By Alon Ben-Meir*
NEW YORK | 27 July 2025 (IDN) — Hamas’ savage October 2023 attack and Israel’s horrific war of retaliation have reignited the call for a two-state solution. I applaud the joint French-Saudi UN initiative in support of a two-state solution in the hope that it will awaken the international community and end this most destructive and most protracted conflict since World War II.
The United Nations plans to convene a conference to promote a two-state solution on Palestine, co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. The conference, mandated by the General Assembly in December 2024, is scheduled for July 28-29 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
Regardless of the outcome, I cannot think of a more important UN conference than on this critical subject, which has plagued Israel and the Palestinians for nearly eight decades.
What is puzzling, however, is that the Trump administration is discouraging governments around the world from attending the conference. The diplomatic warning, sent on Tuesday, June 10, states that countries taking “anti-Israel actions” following the conference will be viewed as acting in opposition to US foreign policy interests and may face diplomatic consequences from Washington.
The irony here is that when Trump unveiled his administration’s Middle East peace plan at the White House on January 28, 2020, he explicitly endorsed a two-state solution, stating: “My vision presents a win-win opportunity for both sides, a realistic two-state solution that resolves the risk of Palestinian statehood to Israel’s security.”
Trump, who presumably cares about Israel’s national security and continuing viability as an independent state, should know, as time has shown time and again, that Israel’s ultimate security rests on ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Instead of encouraging and praising France and Saudi Arabia for their initiative, his diplomatic warning is outrageous, as it would only prolong the conflict for decades to come, to the detriment of both sides.
Such a baffling threat to the countries that would support the resolution should have been inconceivable, mainly because of the ongoing horrific war in Gaza, which has demonstrated that the status quo never was and never will be sustainable.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only become increasingly intractable and deadly. It will culminate again in violence that will even overshadow the current calamitous war in Gaza and exact untold death and destruction from both sides.
Often, any crisis of such magnitude awakens people to their bitter reality, raising the question of how to change the dynamic to end such an endemic conflict and look for a breakthrough from the near-unprecedented breakdown, which the Israel-Hamas war has precipitated.
Moreover, examining the history of the conflict, considering the psychological mindset of both peoples, their deep-rooted claims to the same land, and what has transpired over the years, has unequivocally demonstrated that only two independent states offer a practical and sustainable resolution. Thus, those who advocated for a two-state solution have proven to be wrong. Other options that have been proposed have not withstood scrutiny.
The Unsustainability of the Status Quo
The status quo is proving increasingly untenable, as the current war and escalating West Bank violence glaringly demonstrate. Nearly six decades of occupation, marked by violence, Intifadas, terrorism, and repeated incursions into Gaza culminating in the Israel-Hamas war, have shown that the occupation is unsustainable.
Moreover, preserving the status quo has created a de facto one-state reality. The Palestinians have vehemently resisted and continue to resist because it has created a de facto apartheid system where Israeli Jews in the West Bank are governed by civilian law and Palestinians by martial law.
One Democratic State
The Palestinians would welcome a single democratic state because, in a free and fair election, they could soon form a majority and potentially govern Israel. There are roughly 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank, 2.1 million in Gaza, and 2 million in Israel proper, a total of over 7 million, which is about equal to the Jewish Israeli population. This would undermine the very foundation of Israel as a Jewish state and is categorically unacceptable to nearly all Israelis, regardless of their political affiliation.
An Autonomous Palestinian Entity
Another option is creating an autonomous Palestinian entity in the West Bank and Gaza, including areas A and B, 80 to 90 percent of Area C, and Gaza. This entity would be demilitarized but maintain internal security in cooperation with Israel, technically ending the occupation. Israel, for its part, refuses to relinquish overall security control, fearing for its safety. The Palestinians have sternly continued to reject such an option, as that would usurp their right to statehood.
The Two-State Solution
The two-state solution—two independent states coexisting peacefully and respecting each other’s sovereignty and rights—remains the only viable option. Given the intermingled populations in the West Bank and changing realities since 1967, close security and economic collaboration are prerequisites for a sustainable peace.
Israelis and Palestinians must accept that their coexistence is irrevocable. They have only two choices: they can grow, prosper, and live in peace together, or continue the cycle of violence for decades to come. The choice is theirs—to bequeath life or death to future generations.
Tragically, the Israelis and the Palestinians will continue to suffer and pay heavily in blood and treasure as long as Netanyahu or anyone else of his ilk is in power. He has vowed never to allow the establishment of a Palestinian state under his watch, and now he is exploiting the war in Gaza to bury once and for all any prospect of an independent Palestinian state, which will elude him no matter how hard he tries. Worse yet, he has not come up with any mutually acceptable solution to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
On the other hand, Trump can use his office’s power to change the conflict’s dynamic and appeal to the Israelis, who trust him, and explain why only a two-state solution offers them the ultimate national security. He can rein in Netanyahu to end the war in Gaza, develop an exit strategy, and move to create a path that would lead, over time, to the establishment of a Palestinian state. He was told by the Saudis that there would be no normalization of relations with Israel unless such a credible path is established.
Instead, he chose to demonstrate to his constituency, especially the evangelicals, that he cares so much for Israel when in fact he is rendering Israel more vulnerable and insecure by letting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict fester with no end in sight. Now he is shamelessly threatening to punish the countries that will support the French-Saudi UN initiative, instead of embracing it wholeheartedly.
Netanyahu and Trump are two dangerously misguided individuals whose incompetence and misunderstanding of what it would take to end the longest and bloodiest conflict since World War II is baffling. The blood of Israelis and Palestinians who will continue to die in this conflict for generations to come will be on their hands.
I do not minimize for a moment how difficult and at times insurmountable it will be to resolve many of the conflicting issues between Israel and the Palestinians and reach an agreement based on a two-state solution. However, in the absence of any other viable option, they have little choice but to stop short of nothing and make necessary compromises, regardless of how long it might take to reach an agreement.
I applaud the French-Saudi initiative for trying to revive the prospect of a two-state solution, especially in the wake of the horrifying war in Gaza. The war has only demonstrated that as long as the Palestinians are prevented from establishing a state of their own, the Israeli-Palestinian violent conflict will continue to simmer, bequeathing nothing but death and destruction to the next generation.
*Dr. Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations, most recently at the Center for Global Affairs at NYU. He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies.alon@alonben-meir.com Web: www.alonben-meir.com [IDN-InDepthNews]
Image: French President Emmanuel Macron with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman during his visit to the Kingdom in December 2024. © Ludovic Marin, AFP
