Why a two-state solution would be bad for the Palestinians

The international community is trapped in binary thinking that equates a two-state solution with supporting the Palestinians and opposing it as being against them. This is nonsense.

The widespread belief that a two-state solution will resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict is fiction. It might be a heresy to say it, but it is not even what is best for the Palestinians. The international community needs to wake up to this. A narrative change is required.

Those advocating and agitating for two states must know even less about Palestinian politics than they do about Israeli politics, which is an extraordinary achievement. They have little understanding of what would genuinely help Israelis and Palestinians.

I have written extensively on why the two-state solution is a bad idea and how Israel giving its land away to its enemies is stupid. What is less talked about, or rarely acknowledged, is that a two-state solution would be disastrous for Palestinians.

It would not stop terror against Israel, the new state would descend into civil war, it would have its own terror problem, and be a corrupt fiefdom. How this is meant to make Palestinian lives better is unclear.

Any peace proposal with a chance of working must address Israel’s security concerns, and creating a Palestinian state will not do that. The Palestinian Authority (PA), Hamas, and groups such as Islamic Jihad, are united in their hatred of Jews and their desire to destroy Israel. Annihilating Israel will remain their goal regardless of whether there is a Palestinian state.

The PA and Hamas brainwash their children from the womb to hate Jews and to aspire to Islamic martyrdom. The United Nations Works and Relief Agency and Western governments’ funding of this child abuse is obscene. Any proposal that does not save these children from Islamists should be deemed a non-starter. This indoctrination ensures terror against Israel will continue, as will Israel’s military response to it. Two states will not bring peace, so will not help Israelis or Palestinians.

The various tribally-minded Palestinian factions agree on nothing beyond loathing Israel. Civil war would plague a Palestinian state almost immediately as the PA, Hamas, and other groups such as Islamic Jihad, will fight to control it. When Israel unilaterally pulled out of Gaza in 2005, it took six only six months for Hamas and the PA to be at war, which Hamas won.

The PA (Fatah)-Hamas Palestinian Civil War in Gaza was not a big war. Some 600 people were killed, with dozens murdered in later repercussions and reprisals. However, it illustrated all sides’ barbarism. It was the kind of violence that keeps you up at night. Both sides targeted civilians; opponents were executed in public, prisoners were thrown off high-rise buildings, and bodies were tied to the backs of trucks and dragged through the streets.

Given this is how they treat each other, it was unsurprising that the October 7 attack was so savage when they targeted Jews. That is what Palestinian political discourse looks like. It is hardly the stuff of successful statehood.

This happened in the Gaza Strip, which is smaller and strategically less important than Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). A Palestinian civil war there would be more complex and bloodier. The civil war would likely involve more than just the PA and Hamas, as there are numerous other Jihadists factions, too.

There would be no clear winner, either. Whoever loses will embark on a terror campaign against whoever does govern. So, in addition to continued Palestinian terror against Israel, a Palestinian state itself would have a terror problem. Nefarious actors, such as Iran and Qatar, would fuel this, making it a near-inevitable outcome.

The agreement Fatah and Hamas have signed in Beijing to resolve their differences is meaningless. Both are pathological liars. It is a stretch to say that creating a Palestinian state that would impose a heinous civil war on Palestinians is in their interests.