2 states, 1 solution
It has long been apparent a two-state solution is the best for all concerned in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict – it would give Palestinians autonomy within their own state, take at least some of the tinder out of the perpetual tinderbox that is the Middle East and ensure Israel’s survival as a state that is both Jewish and democratic.
There’s another reason a two-state solution would be beneficial – it would be an economic boon for both Israelis and Palestinians.
According to a freshly released study by Rand Corporation, a two-state solution would provide “by far the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians.” To wit, Israelis would gain $123 billion in additional economic opportunity over the next 10 years, while Palestinians would gain $50 billion. But the benefit to Palestinians proportionately would be greater, with the average per capita income increasing for them by 36 percent.
Conversely, the think tank reports that renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians would drive down per capita income in the West Bank and Gaza by 46 percent, and by 10 percent in Israel. The study also explores other scenarios that could unfold, such as nonviolent resistance to Israel by the Palestinians, and the withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the West Bank that is either coordinated with the Palestinians and the international community or is not.
“A two-state solution produces by far the best economic outcomes for both Israelis and Palestinians,” said Charles Ries, one of the leaders of the study and a Rand Corporation vice president.
Will the findings of the Rand Corporation move Israeli and Palestinian leaders to action? Don’t get your hopes up. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed before his conservative Likud party won a sweeping election victory in March there would not be a Palestinian state on his watch, though he later backtracked on that position, and the Palestinians are beset by factionalism between the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, and the more confrontational Hamas, which controls Gaza.
We can only hope peace and reason will eventually prevail – and that money will talk.