The Three-State Option

Israel isn't a happy place, either. It endures opprobrium from the world's High-Minded for defending itself from terrorism yet still finds itself subjected to terrorist attacks from Hamas and terrorists based in Syria and Lebanon. Israel's domestic politics are increasingly muddled, and its way forward obscure.

Neighboring countries also suffer. Egypt has walled off its boundary with Gaza; Lebanon remains under threat of a Hezbollah coup enabled by Iran; Syria slides further under Iranian hegemony; and Jordan is trapped in the general gridlock. Other Arab countries search for solutions, but their attention is increasingly diverted by the growing threat from Iran and the downturn in global oil prices.

Israel isn't really facing the world shame and disgrace for defending itself. But for attacking, killing, committing genocide, targeting, strangling and murdering civilians. If that's not enough. It's also invading AND occupying illegally other territories and interfering in the work of elected democracy. Any form of resistance needs to be distinguished from terrorism. And that's what Hamas is doing. Defending its own people. Exactly like the Jewish polish militia did against the Nazi army in World War II. But apparently those are humans, and Palestinians are not.

Egypt is walled by the Israeli actions, and fell between the rock and the wall. Either annul their peace treaty, and face their strategic obligations. Or suffer under the overwhelming demands of people who are crying to help and support the true victims of the war. Jordan is very much in the same boat. Isolated by the shameful peace treaty.

Given this landscape, we should ask why we still advocate the "two-state solution," with Israel and "Palestine" living side by side in peace, as the mantra goes. We are obviously not progressing, and are probably going backward. We continue poring over the Middle East "road map" because that is all we have, faute de mieux, as they say in Foggy Bottom.

The logic to this position is long past its expiration date. Unfortunately, it is hard to imagine a new approach that the key players would receive enthusiastically. If the way out were obvious, after all, it would already have been suggested. So consider the following, unpopular and difficult to implement though it may be:

Let's start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn. Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection. Instead, we should look to a "three-state" approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty. Among many anomalies, today's conflict lies within the boundaries of three states nominally at peace. Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries. "International observers" or the like cannot come close to what is necessary; we need real states with real security forces.

Instead of resorting to terms like "Foggy Bottom" I would rather saying things like, You know only one side of this story and therefore any opinion or resolution isn't justly addressing the needs and dreams of all sides, therefore rejected and will not be applicable in the real world. And since you don't know. How about you don't take sides? How about you look at the suffering of any sides in the right light and in the right magnitude and side with people who are actually in need for help and support. Don't side, how about just give them equal opportunity to reach in a just and fair settlement

Hamas has not killed this idea, it's the arrogance, stubbornness and rejection of the Israelis and refusal to deal with the real facts on the ground that HAMAS is the ELECTED representative of the Palestinians and reaching ANY agreement has to go through them first. So who are the real killers? People who refuse to listen, understand or negotiate.

Oh and by the way, haven't we tried that approach before for 3 decades? Did we even have an inch of progress on any of the peace fronts? This is just postponing the problem and not resolving it.

This idea would be decidedly unpopular in Egypt and Jordan, which have long sought to wash their hands of the Palestinian problem. Accordingly, they should not have to reassume this responsibility alone. They should receive financial and political support from the Arab League and the West, as they both have for years from the United States. Israel should accept political and administrative roles by Jordan and Egypt, unless it intends to perform such roles itself (which it manifestly does not).

The "Palestinian Problem" is the occupation. The illegal settlement, the unjust collective punishment, genocide murder and racist treatment and most severely, the US bias against them. That's the real "Palestinian Problem". Why should Jordan, Egypt or the Arab league shoulder the responsibility of actions by occupiers? Why should any party take the blame for Israel? In fact, why should the US stick out its neck to save Israel every time they go out and commit genocide against mostly defenseless unarmed people?

Egypt no more wants responsibility for dealing with Hamas than Israel does. Cairo fears that Hamas extremism, and its affinity for the Muslim Brotherhood, will increase the risk of extremism in Egypt. Strong ties exist between Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and extremism in Egypt is growing, so already the real issue is finding the best way to control the threat simultaneously in Egypt and Gaza. Keeping Gaza politically separate from Egypt may be optically satisfying to some, but doing so simply increases threats to Egyptian stability, the loss of which would be catastrophic for the broader region. Just ask the mullahs in Tehran.

Without a larger Egyptian role, Gaza will not, and perhaps cannot, achieve the minimal stability necessary for economic development. Moreover, connecting Gaza to a real economy, rather than a fictional "Palestinian economy," is the quickest concrete way to improve the lives of Gaza's ordinary citizens. The West Bank link to Jordan, for now at least, is less urgent; the matter cannot be put aside indefinitely, partly because, ironically, long-term Israeli security concerns there are more complex than in Gaza.

The Mullahs in Tehran are not the ones killing, maiming and inflecting unrecoverable damage on the very fabric of the human existence in Palestine. It is Israel. But granted, Egypt doesn't want to deal with Hamas, yet. They want Israel to do all the dirty laundry before throwing the remains of the broken society to Egypt where they would probably suffer more from a regime that doesn't want them, nor do they long to the old days of the Egyptian influence. They have tried that for 3 decades and it wasn't any better.

Egypt had a larger role that was ultimately neutralized by the Egypt-Israeli peace treaty that came despite all rejections from all parties other than the Egyptian leadership, and localized nationalistic individuals and parties in Egypt.

For Palestinians, admitting the obvious failure of the PA, and the consequences of their selection of Hamas, means accepting reality, however unpleasant. But it is precisely Palestinians who would most benefit from stability. The PA -- weakened, corrupt and discredited -- is not a state by any realistic assessment, nor will it become one accepted by Israel as long as Hamas or terrorism generally remains a major political force among Palestinians.

Objections to this idea will be manifold, and implementation difficult. One place to avoid problems is dispensing with intricate discussions over the exact legal status of Gaza and the West Bank. These territories contain more legal theories than land. "Retrocession" to Egypt and Jordan may or may not become permanent, but one need not advocate that to get started in the interim.

The failure of the PA was orchestrated and carried out, with precision, by Israel and the rest of the collaborators, through every possible way of oppressing the people. Making the suffer for their democratic election and choice of people who represent them.

It's simplistic and bordering stupidity the mere mention that giving any level of assurances to Egypt and Jordan would allow them to curb the resistance. Without hope there is no chance for peace or dialogue. What is needed is giving -back- people what has been taken violently from them. Their life, their freedom, their rights including the most important one, the right to live

The Palestinian and Israeli peoples deserve a little glasnost and perestroika from the outside world. Either we do better, conceptually and operationally, or Iran will be happy to fill the vacuum.

The Palestinians had their moment of perestroika, they had it when they democratically and out of their free will have elected a government to represent them. Only to be faced by the stubbornness of the Israeli arrogant government that refused to resort to dialog and supported, even ignited the fuse for the massive catastrophic scale violence.

I think Palestinians are sick of all external influence, why would anyone want to allow Iran or anyone else to dictate or run the show. Palestinians want to LIVE in peace and WITH dignity.

The writer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, was U.S. ambassador to the United Nations from August 2005 to December 2006.

With such a track record, you should be ashamed of even thinking, not publishing your hate filled articles in complete biased, emotional and baseless support to the aggressing criminals. You should have some respect to life and the people who are bleeding just to fulfill your bloody dreams of the middle east as you invasion it not as people who LIVE IN IT want it to be.

You have failed in your post and your whole administration is guilty of allowing these crimes against humanity to go on unchecked. Yet, you have the audacity to blame the victims and letting the murderers go free

People need hope. They want a lasting comprehensive and just peace. They want their dignity and they want their rights as humans. But it's clear that Mr Bolton and the American administration doesn't see these as basic rights for any human anywhere on the face of this planet.