P alestine, the UN and the O ne ‐S tate S olution

© 2011, The Author Middle East Policy © 2011, Middle East Policy Council In fall 2011, observers of Arab-Israeli affairs warned that the Palestinian bid for UN recognition threatened both the United States and the Jewish state. The Palestinians’ diplomatic offensive would isolate Israel and its allies, the critics said, while further consolidating an international pro-Palestinian bloc. It could also force the United States to use its Security Council veto, further discrediting the Obama administration with Middle Eastern and global publics. Most commentators, however, missed a key point: by demanding official UN recognition, Palestinian leaders dealt a debilitating blow to all those who had begun to think seriously about a one-state or confederal solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. And, while the Palestinian bid for UN recognition did not end that discussion entirely, it did pose a new and serious obstacle. For the foreseeable future, all eyes will be intently focused on Jewish-Palestinian partition, rather than on the possibility of some kind of shared Palestinian-Jewish political entity. This reversal is a shame, given that serious debate over a one-state or confederal solution had only just begun. And while no reasonable person would pretend that a democratic and unitary Palestinian-Jewish state is likely to emerge any time soon, the concept’s long-term prospects are more intriguing. Given that a successful two-state solution remains disappointingly elusive,1 why not start thinking creatively about new options? The one-state/confederal idea can help advance the debate over PalestinianIsraeli relations by generating fresh thinking and new strategies on all sides.