Last week, Michigan Democratic Rep. Andy Levin introduced the Two-State Solution Act.
It is a dangerous joke that would hurt our closest ally in the Middle East.
The bill seeks “to preserve conditions for, and improve the likelihood of, a two-state solution that secures Israel’s future as a democratic state and a national home for the Jewish people, a viable, democratic Palestinian state, an end to Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, and peaceful relations between the two states, and to direct the Department of State and other relevant agencies to take steps to accomplish these ends.”
Let’s break down the bill into its individual pieces.
First, the two-state solution has been dead from the moment Israel was founded. The 1947 United Nations partition plan would have created a Jewish state and an Arab state. The Jews accepted the plan, while the Arabs rejected it. This led to Israel’s founding following war in 1948. Since then, Israel has made numerous offers of statehood to the Palestinians. They have been rejected, and terrorism has, in most cases, followed. Put simply, the Palestinians have repeatedly demonstrated their refusal to co-exist with the Jewish state. A state, we should remember, that was founded only in the aftermath of 6 million Jews being killed in the Nazi-led Holocaust.
Second, there is no Israeli “occupation of the Palestinian territories.” The West Bank has never belonged to the Palestinians. It used to belong to Jordan. Israel seized that land, including East Jerusalem, during the 1967 six day war. Jordan eventually ceded the land to Israel. The bill would condition U.S. assistance to Israel on the Jewish state not “[undermining] the prospects of a negotiated two-state solution.”
This would be dangerous, especially as Israel faces numerous threats, the biggest from Iran.
The bill would also mark products made in the “Palestinian territories” as either “West Bank/Gaza,” “West Bank/Gaza Strip,” or “West Bank and Gaza.” This is labeling designed to be loved by supporters of the movement to boycott, divest and sanction Israel.
Finally, the bill would end the designation of the Palestine Liberation Organization as a terrorist group. At least, that is, once the Palestinians are found to be in compliance with the Taylor Force Act (which prohibits U.S. taxpayer funds from going to the Palestinian Authority as long as it rewards terrorists and their families). The bill would allow, once that condition is met, for the PLO office in Washington to reopen.
But the bill forgets that the PLO has shown little interest in peace. President Donald Trump was right to shutter the PLO office in 2018. The Biden administration resumed funding for Palestinians earlier this year. So what’s to stop the secretary of state from certifying that the Palestinians are in compliance with the Taylor Force Act when they’re actually not?
Recall that the administration revoked the terrorist designation of the Houthis in Yemen even though they are a terrorist group backed by Iran.
Ultimately, any solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has to be worked out between the two sides without the U.S. dictating what it thinks is best. One thing is for certain. To quote the late Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir: “Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.”
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
