A Possible Israeli-Palestinian Solution - Essay Example

Many Palestinians continue to live in disastrous situations in Gaza and the West Bank, while the Israelis continue to expand their settlements into Palestinian occupied territories and defying previous resolutions that have been passed. The ongoing negotiations have flirted with a resolution for some time, yet nothing substantial has been reported about resolving the conflict. This analytical research paper will argue that the grand debates on finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict still make headlines after a long standstill due to cultural and religious differences between the two parties, nationalistic rhetoric coming from the politicians, and Israel still holding anger over the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) recognizing Palestine as a non-member observer in 2012.

The Two-State Solution (TSS) focuses on the creation of two separate states and will potentially give rise to a new Palestinian recognized state alongside a Jewish state. On the other hand, a one-state solution calls for the reunification of Palestine into a single state and creates a common nationality for both Jews and Palestinians and would ultimately end the current Jewish state (Allegra & Napolitano, 2011). The continued growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, confiscation of Palestinian land in Gaza, building of security barriers, development of Jewish housing estates in East Jerusalem, and proliferation of checkpoints in Gaza and the West Bank have led a number of Palestinians to conclude that a two-state solution may no longer be possible (Kelman, 2011).

As a result, many Palestinians, particularly from the Diaspora (not from the West Bank), now advocate for a one-state solution while considering the difficulties of the Jews leaving expanding settlements in Gaza. There are growing fears among Jews, particularly in Gaza and the West Bank, that the possibility of a two-state solution that would force them to leave their settlements and return to Israel in order to pave way for a Palestinian state (Kelman, 2011). However, opposition to a one-state solution dislike the fact that this would place Jews together with Palestinians and likely involve abolishing the Jewish state and merging both entities to create single state for both the Jews and Palestinians to dwell in.

This would mean abandonment of the Zionism project that aims to establish a Jewish majority state. It also implies that a one-state solution would have unanimous opposition from both the Palestinians and Jews. Therefore, the chances of a one-state solution are reduced and the likelihood of a two-state solution becomes more viable. In fact, the current Israel Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, publicly declared the necessity of a two-state solution in his Bar-Ilan speech on June 14, 2009 (Kelman, 2011).

Consequently, the only viable and possible solution to the Israel- Palestine conflict would be establishment of two parallel states, one each for the Jews and Palestinians, to make it possible for each side to achieve complete autonomy in the establishment of Palestinian and Jewish states.