An excerpt from Stanly Johny’s Original Sin:
In the 76 years of its existence, Israel has built itself as a powerful entity in a largely hostile region. But despite all the progress it has made, is a dark reality surrounding the state of Israel — the continuing occupation of Palestinian territories. In this edited excerpt, he explains why the two-state solution is practically dead, and traces the changes and continuity in India-Israel relations.
Perceived threat
If Israel says a future Palestine state should be unarmed, it would not be a sovereign state. But the diplomat’s views are relatively moderate compared to the mainstream opinion in Israel’s political circles about the two-state solution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said there wouldn’t be a Palestinian state on his watch. “I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today, and evacuate areas, is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel,” he said in 2015. Naftali Bennett, the former Prime Minister, said in a 2013 interview, before he formed his government, “There is not going to be a Palestinian state within the tiny land of Israel.” By “the tiny land of Israel”, he was referring to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which was historical Palestine. The Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, has passed resolutions rejecting the Palestinian statehood. “A Palestinian state would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilise the region,” according to a resolution passed in the 120-member Knesset in July 2024, with 69 votes in favour and nine against.
So the two-state solution, which India and a vast majority of the countries support, remains practically dead in Israel. “India has also de-hyphenated Israel and Palestine so that we can deepen our bilateral partnership irrespective of the Palestine factor.” Said the diplomat. In the post-Independence years, India remained a steadfast supporter of Palestine, but maintained diplomatic engagements as well as backchannel defence relations with Israel, which was very keen on developing ties with New Delhi.
All these factors expedited India’s gradual tilt towards Israel.
Now the question arises - Is the two-state solution still viable, or has the window for its implementation permanently closed due to irreversible ground realities like settlements?
In the 76 years of its existence, Israel has built itself as a powerful entity in a largely hostile region. But despite all the progress it has made, is a dark reality surrounding the state of Israel — the continuing occupation of Palestinian territories. In this edited excerpt, he explains why the two-state solution is practically dead, and traces the changes and continuity in India-Israel relations.
Perceived threat
If Israel says a future Palestine state should be unarmed, it would not be a sovereign state. But the diplomat’s views are relatively moderate compared to the mainstream opinion in Israel’s political circles about the two-state solution. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly said there wouldn’t be a Palestinian state on his watch. “I think that anyone who moves to establish a Palestinian state today, and evacuate areas, is giving radical Islam an area from which to attack the State of Israel,” he said in 2015. Naftali Bennett, the former Prime Minister, said in a 2013 interview, before he formed his government, “There is not going to be a Palestinian state within the tiny land of Israel.” By “the tiny land of Israel”, he was referring to the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, which was historical Palestine. The Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, has passed resolutions rejecting the Palestinian statehood. “A Palestinian state would pose an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilise the region,” according to a resolution passed in the 120-member Knesset in July 2024, with 69 votes in favour and nine against.
So the two-state solution, which India and a vast majority of the countries support, remains practically dead in Israel. “India has also de-hyphenated Israel and Palestine so that we can deepen our bilateral partnership irrespective of the Palestine factor.” Said the diplomat. In the post-Independence years, India remained a steadfast supporter of Palestine, but maintained diplomatic engagements as well as backchannel defence relations with Israel, which was very keen on developing ties with New Delhi.
All these factors expedited India’s gradual tilt towards Israel.
Now the question arises - Is the two-state solution still viable, or has the window for its implementation permanently closed due to irreversible ground realities like settlements?
