Myth: The only solution to the conflict is “a one-state solution.”

While the current conditions may not provide grounds for optimism, the two-state solution, negotiated based on two states for two peoples, is the most viable path to achieving a secure, democratic, and Jewish future for the State of Israel and to meeting the legitimate needs and national aspirations of the Palestinian people.  

Any Palestinian state must respect the principles of democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and must accept Israel’s right to exist in peace and security as a Jewish and democratic state. Just as the Jewish people have a right to self-determine, so do the Palestinian people.  

However well intentioned, the unilateral establishment of a Palestinian state – including through action at the United Nations, or in any circumstances other than as the conclusion of a comprehensive peace agreement arrived at through bilateral negotiations – will not achieve justice for either Israelis or Palestinians but will instead lead to further conflict, bloodshed, and misery. Both Israelis and Palestinians should be able to advocate for themselves, by themselves, and establish secure international borders.    

As author Yossi Klein-Halevi has argued, “The notion that Palestinians and Jews, who can’t even negotiate a two-state solution, could coexist in one happy state is so ludicrous that only the naïve or the malicious would fall for it.”