There are times when even the most jaded and cynical seasoned Middle East observers can be surprised by announcements about new policies in the region. France and Saudi Arabia have just surprised the world by announcing their plans to try and rekindle the just-about-completely extinguished flame of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Like a desperate spurned lover stalking his old love even though his former beau has moved on, France and Saudi Arabia are desperately trying to stay relevant in an international dispute where they’re no longer involved and have little to contribute.
Recently, French Minister of Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot met with his Saudi counterpart, Prince Faisal bin Farhan, in Riyadh. Since Saudi Arabia hasn’t normalized relations with Israel, it could be assumed that Israel wouldn’t come up in conversation between these two ministers. Yet, despite all logic to the contrary, the focus of their talks was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and its solutions.
The world's most pointless coference: Advancing the two state solution
This coming June, French President Emmanuel Macron and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will co-chair the world’s most pointless conference. This international conference, aptly held at the United Nations headquarters, a campus known for producing very little (other than hot air) will be focused on advancing the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To avoid international mockery over hosting a meaningless conference, Macron has announced he’s considering even recognizing a Palestinian state at the conference.
In a recent statement criticizing Israel’s war efforts against Palestinian terrorists and Hamas in Gaza, the leaders of France, the United Kingdom, and Canada released a statement that ended, “We affirm the important role of the High-level Two-State Solution Conference at the UN in June in building international consensus around this aim. And we are committed to recognizing a Palestinian state as a contribution to achieving a two-state solution and are prepared to work with others to this end.”
The conference will unveil a “Paris Declaration for Peace and Dual States,” promoting urgent actions: an immediate halt to hostilities in Gaza, the prompt and unconditional freeing of all captives, ongoing access to coordinated humanitarian assistance to meet the needs of the Palestinian population, and the initiation of a swift international strategy for Gaza’s rebuilding, involving local, regional, and global partners. It almost sounds too good to be true.
It has recently been reported by Israel Hayom that Ofer Bronchtein, an Israeli aide to Macron, has been spearheading the efforts to convene a conference to accelerate Palestinian statehood. Israel is worried that French and Saudi moves might be made without consulting Israel.
There are numerous reasons pushing for a two-state solution is absurd, but the most critical reason is the lack of support for a two-state solution among Israelis and Palestinians. In a poll conducted last year by Khalil Shikaki, director of the well-respected Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research based in Ramallah, only 32% of Palestinians support a two-state solution. There are no reasons to think that support has risen since the poll was conducted.
A survey conducted by the Council for a Secure America, a New York-based nonprofit, in February found that 64% of Israelis reject the concept of a two-state solution. President Isaac Herzog aptly explained Israeli sentiment regarding the two-state solution in light of the October 7 Palestinian massacre of Israelis, “What I want to urge is against just saying ‘two-state solution.’ Why? Because there is an emotional chapter here that must be dealt with. My nation is bereaved. My nation is in trauma.”
Israeli and Palestinian leaders also oppose the two-state solution. In a statement published following a call with US president Joe Biden last year, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote, “Israel categorically rejects international dictates regarding a permanent settlement with the Palestinians. Israel will continue to oppose unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, well-known for vacillating between supporting and opposing a two-state solution, usually offering different ideas depending on the language he’s talking in and the crowd he’s speaking to, has publicly admitted that he turned down a chance for a two-state peace deal with Israel that would have given him nearly all the land the Palestinians wanted.
While Biden paid lip service to the two-state solution, frequently stating that it was the only way forward to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he didn’t advance any policies or plans to bring it to fruition. He recognized that neither side had the will to achieve it.
US President Donald Trump doesn’t consider the two-state solution the only way to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He has said, “I support a plan of peace, and it can take different forms. I support whatever solution we can do to get peace. There are other ideas other than two-state, but I support whatever is necessary to get not just peace, [but] a lasting peace. It can’t go on where every five years you end up in tragedy. There are other alternatives.”
As if desperately trying to rekindle the burned-out two-state solution didn’t seem impractical enough for France and Saudi Arabia, they also recently announced a plan to disarm Hamas but have it hold on to its political power and influence over the Gaza Strip. The goal is to turn the internationally recognized terror group – which has never even hinted it has an interest in reforming itself – into a political power in Gaza capable of governing Palestinians.
Even Amnesty International, an organization that generally sides with Hamas’s concocted accusations against Israel, outlined Hamas’s human rights abuses against Palestinians it has governed in Gaza.
“Hamas forces carried out a brutal campaign of abductions, torture, and unlawful killings against Palestinians accused of ‘collaborating’ with Israel and others.” Amnesty International has highlighted a series of abuses, such as the extrajudicial execution of Palestinians and the arrest and torture of others, including members and supporters of Hamas’s political rivals, Fatah. A plan to allow Hamas to retain its power in the Gaza Strip is ludicrous.
France and Saudi Arabia can’t be blamed for wanting to stay relevant in the international diplomatic arena and using archaic ideas to try to claim some of the spotlight. Without Israeli, Palestinian, or American support for a two-state solution, hosting a conference that will advocate a two-state solution, elevating an internationally recognized terror group to a globally recognized governing political party, and unilaterally recognizing a Palestinian state, seems not only absurd but desperate.
The writer is a certified interfaith hospice chaplain in Jerusalem and the mayor of Mitzpe Yeriho, where she lives with her husband and six children.