In his recent address, Rabbi Ammiel Hirsch, one of the most outspoken leaders of the Reform movement, declared, “The Palestinians have choked the hope for a two-state solution with their own hands.”
This perspective is not just an expression of deep pain – it is a testament to the destructive consequences of the events of October 7, 2023, on the perception of Israel’s future in the eyes of many liberals in Israel and the American Jewish community.
Hamas not only attacked, murdered, and raped Israelis, it also succeeded in causing many Jews to lose faith in a future in which Israel can exist as a Jewish and democratic state alongside a Palestinian state.
From Hamas’s perspective, this is a tremendous strategic victory. After all, its goal has never been Palestinian independence alongside Israel but rather the elimination of the Zionist idea.
If Israel completely rejects the two-state solution, it will be trapped in a predicament where it cannot be both democratic and Jewish in a sustainable manner – thus demolishing liberal Zionism.
The position of Rabbi Hirsch is also the result of years of systematic political messages from the Israeli Right and the conservative American Jewish establishment, which have succeeded in conflating the Palestinians as a national movement and Hamas as an extremist Islamist movement.
Netanyahu's narrative
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, backed by organizations in the Jewish establishment in the US, promoted a narrative that associates every Palestinian with Hamas.
As a result, even moderate voices such as Rabbi Hirsch’s are now adopting an interpretation that absolves Israel from any responsibility for the failure of peace processes.
The Palestinian side is not exempt from responsibility, of course, but granting an exemption to Israeli governments throughout the generations from shared responsibility for the failure is not Zionism – since the purpose of Zionism is for the Jewish people to take responsibility for our fate.
It also reinforces the destructive stance of the “There’s no partner for peace” school, which is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Those who claim that the problem lies solely with the Palestinian side and the strengthening of Hamas that has been led by Netanyahu’s governments in the past 16 years are causing serious damage to our future.
Despite the pain, in light of Rabbi Hirsch’s words, I find comfort in the fact that the American Jewish community still largely holds a different position.
Most Jews in the US support the two-state solution and understand that the endless control over the Palestinians is not a recipe for Zionist prosperity but rather for Israel’s moral and strategic decline.
IN ISRAEL, polls indicate that the majority of the public would support a solution that included a demilitarized Palestinian state as part of a regional agreement.
Israel can make a reality of full peace relations with Sunni Arab countries as part of a moderate Middle Eastern bloc standing against both Iranian and jihadist Shi’ite and Sunni forces.
Saudi Arabia is leading this initiative among Arab countries, and it is possible that Indonesia and other non-Arab Muslim countries will join as well.
Biden tried to promote this vision and failed, but Donald Trump also wants to reach such an agreement for different reasons of prestige and money, which could make its realization more realistic.
Such an arrangement would not only solve the moral and demographic problem of controlling a foreign people but would also the solution to Israel’s security problem, as former senior officials from the IDF, Mossad, Shin Bet, and the Foreign Ministry have testified.
From a historical perspective, we know that – sometimes – it is precisely after severe shocks that a political breakthrough occurs.
After the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the Israeli public became more hawkish – but shortly thereafter, peace was signed with Egypt.
After the First Intifada, which was a severe trauma for the Israeli public, the Oslo Accords were born, paving the way for peace with Jordan.
Today’s crisis is not necessarily a sign of losing our way – it could be a springboard to a new solution; if only the right leader can be found, with the ability to translate pain into hope.
The reality is indeed difficult. The current dynamics make the political discourse in Israel more extreme. But we do not have the privilege of despairing.
Zionism has never been an effortless project. Every significant achievement we have attained as a people and as a state has come through determination, despite opposition and fears.
Whoever adheres to the Zionist vision must fight to ensure that Israel remains both Jewish and democratic.
This means continuing to push for a political solution, even in the face of brutal terrorism, even when it seems the public is shifting to the Right.
I greatly respect and appreciate Rabbi Hirsch and his commitment to Israel and the Jewish people, but I disagree with him.
I disagree with the notion that we should give up. If we give up, Hamas wins.
If we persist, one day, we can reach a political horizon that will guarantee our future as a secure Jewish and democratic state alongside a Palestinian one.
The writer is J Street-Israel’s executive director. He has served as an Israeli diplomat in Washington and Boston and as a political adviser to the president of Israel.