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Two-State solution dead

Informed commentary has for a long time not only declared a possible Two State solution between the Israelis and Palestinians dead, and impossible to implement anyway, given the facts on the ground - and also accused Israel of having no interest in it in any event - but it's now as official as one could want that it won't happen.

Exhibit #1 (yesterday):  "The idea of Palestinians establishing a state in the territory they seek has "reached a dead end," a senior Israeli official said Monday, in the latest remarks by hard-liners that appear to contradict the country's official support for a "two-state solution" to its conflict with the Palestinians.

The statements by Naftali Bennett, economics minister and leader of the Jewish Home party, chime with similar sentiments expressed by other officials in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government and come as the United States is trying to restart peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

"The idea that a Palestinian state will arise inside the land of Israel has reached a dead end," Bennett said Monday at a meeting of the Yesha settlement group. "Never in the history of Israel have so many people dealt with so much energy with something so pointless," he said."





Exhibit #2 (6 June): "Israel’s ruling party and the governing coalition are staunchly opposed to a two-state solution and would block the creation of a Palestinian state if such a proposal ever came to a vote, Deputy Defense Minister Danny Danon said, contradicting statements by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior cabinet members who say Jerusalem is committed to the principle of two states for two peoples.

Danon’s statements, made Wednesday to The Times of Israel in his first major interview with an Israeli news outlet since he became deputy minister, underline the low likelihood of the current government being able to sign a peace agreement with the Palestinians

“Look at the government: there was never a government discussion, resolution or vote about the two-state solution,” Danon said. “If you will bring it to a vote in the government — nobody will bring it to a vote, it’s not smart to do it — but if you bring it to a vote, you will see the majority of Likud ministers, along with the Jewish Home [party], will be against it.”

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