Here’s a phrase that’ll fill your “Conflict in the Middle East Bingo Card”:
The Two-State Solution.
Have you ever wondered what the Two-State Solution truly entails and why it spells trouble for Israel’s security and harmony? Bingo! You’re in the right spot.
Far from a peace pathway, the current Two-State Solution has stumbled between endless hurdles and rejections, most recently from Hamas and its allies. So much so that Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, in his new TV Segment Eyes on Israel featured on The Real American Voice, brilliantly referred to it as ” The Two-State Delusion”. Speaking of which, if you haven’t caught up on his latest episodes, I highly suggest you take a look.
But here’s the kicker: the roots of Israel’s statehood and its territorial integrity are woven into the Hebrew Bible itself.
Ready to dive deeper into why history and scripture align against the Two-State narrative? Let’s unravel the story.
Rooted in History
There are so many official-sounding names and dates in the recent Israel debates that it feels like it could fill a thesaurus. The basics, however, are clear. The spiritual and national aspirations of the Israelites go all the way back, thousands of years, to Genesis In 15:18-21, where God promises the land of Israel to the Israelittes, sanctifying the land for the Jewish people.
Millenia later, the Jews would accept the original UN Partition Plan in the name of peace, even as it would prevent them from realizing this ancient birthright. Even so, the proposal was met with rejection from the Arab world, which couldn’t bear the thought of any homeland for the Israelites or any other faiths at all. This pattern then repeated itself again and again – in 2000 and 2008. Arab rejection followed with genocidal attacks on the Jews. Fool me once, shame on me. But fool me twice? Or three times?! Well, let’s make sure there isn’t a fourth.
The Stumbling Blocks to Peace
It’s so, so tempting to think of the Two State Solution in terms of “processes.” If only we pulled this political lever, and applied that compromise, then everything would sort itself out…somehow. Yet well-meaning Westerners who adopt this view are, as it goes: “placing a stumbling block before the blind.”
They imagine an Arab world ready to compromise. In reality, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas’s enmity against Israel is rooted not in disagreements but in deep ideological commitment. They say it openly and regularly, with no room for misunderstanding: they will always oppose the Israelites’ fundamental right to self-determination in their own homeland. While those in Israel yearn for the fulfillment of Isaiah 2:4, where swords in Israel can finally be beaten into plowshares, the PA and Hamas incite the most barbaric forms of genocidal violence.
One day there will be peace. But it will be purchased through the steadfastness, commitment, and faith of Israel and her supporters. .
Security Risks and the Cycle of Violence
In Amos 5:24, God makes clear what he expects from Israel – not pomp and circumstance, but letting, “justice well up like water, and righteousness like an unfailing stream.”
As with all nations, this starts with education – what our children are learning in schools and from their parents. I know what I’d want my children to learn: how to be kind, how to serve God, how to stand up for others (and it would also be great if they could learn how to sing on key!). But there can be no Two State Solution when the Palestinian Authority prints textbooks and trains teachers so that their next generation continues to violently attack Israeli citizens of all faiths. When PA textbooks demonstrate scientific theories through attacks on Jews, it’s clear there’s only one side that wants peace: Israel. Israel is the one fulfilling Zecharia 8:5, teaching its children to embrace joy and happiness in the streets of Jerusalem.
The Spiritual and Ideological Essence of the Land
At the end of the day, who can say it better than God? At its core, the Bible serves as the final word in the wholeness and inviolability of Israel as the homeland of the Israelites. As it says in Amos 9:14-15, God promises that they will, through Him, “rebuild ruined cities, plant vineyards and drink their wine.”
This connection calls for solutions that respect the historical and spiritual bonds between the land and the Jews – for us to “Keep God’s Land” while also seeking paths to peace and coexistence.
