Financial Times: The end of the two-state solution

In the recent past, it would have been absolutely inconceivable to see a reference to Israeli apartheid from a mainstream news source. Until recently, it would have also been taboo to question the viability of the “two-state solution” to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But change is in the air.

Today, no less than the Financial Times (UK) editorial page writes:

No Palestinian leader can or will negotiate while Israeli colonisation of the West Bank continues. Mr Netanyahu’s refusal to call a halt to expanding settlements means in effect there will be no two-state solution.

If that is so, then the prospect is for a long and bitter fight for equal rights within one state. That would spell the end of Israel as a democratic Jewish state. It would come to resemble in many ways the struggle against apartheid in South Africa. If Mr Netanyahu believes that he has achieved a victory by refusing to halt the settlements, he is wrong. It is more like a project of national suicide.

When will Israelis come to terms with the facts surrounding their regime?

Update: Add the Wall Street Journal to the criticism of Israeli “peacemaking”. WSJ headline: “Netanyahu offers no advance in peace talks.” (HT: Mondoweiss)

Tagged as: Apartheid, Civil Rights, Peacemaking, Responsibility, Segregation, Settlements