The American "Either-Or" Approach

In a speech to the American Jewish Committee, Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized

And let’s be clear: If we do not succeed now – and I know I’m raising those stakes – but if we do not succeed now, we may not get another chance. So we can’t let the disappointments of the past hold the future prisoner. We can’t let the absence of peace become a self-fulfilling prophesy. The absence of peace is perpetual conflict.

So I want to ask you this: Whenever you think about this challenge and how hard it is, think about what will happen if it doesn’t work. We will find ourselves in a negative spiral of responses and counter-responses that could literally slam the door on a two-state solution, having already agreed, I think, that there isn’t a one-state one. And the insidious campaign to de-legitimize Israel will only gain steam. Israel will be left to choose between being a Jewish state or a democratic state, but it will not be able to fulfill the founders’ visions of being both at once.

And the consequences of failure do not live only in the distant future. This is not some far-off concern, my friends. There are also some very real short-term consequences to consider because the status quo is simply not sustainable. 

First of all, Mr. Kerry, let's first think about what will happen if it does work.

If Israel goes the route of the "two-state solution" it will return to indefensible borders while the Arabs have increased their potential for creating an intolerable security nightmare for Israel.  The pre-1967 borders were barely good then, for the weaponry then, but today and tomorrow?

The two-state solution also means Jerusalem, refugees and Jewish rights of residence.  Can these be accommodate?

Secondly, if you can't get the Arabs to stop incitement and alter their education system and curriculum and overcome the threat of Hamas to the PA, who are you kidding?

Third, the "Jewish state vs. democratic state", or the demographic-democracy threat, is simply untrue.

Considering the alternatives, past experiences and foreseeable future, Israel would be crazy to go the route you wish.

Your road map is nothing but detours and wrong-way directions.

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P.S.

 Number of Jewish settlers makes two-state solution “almost impossible”

P.P.S.

A senior Israeli diplomatic official in Jerusalem has told Israel Hayom that he "refused to be moved" by a Reuters report on Monday that quoted a senior U.S. official as saying the U.S. government would abandon its efforts to advance the peace process if it determined that Israel and the Palestinians were not serious about the matter.  On Monday, the U.S. official told Reuters, "There are too many things going on in the world ... You could bang your head on this for years and years and years."  According to the Israeli official, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has not presented a formal peace plan, but rather has offered a number of proposals to renew negotiations between the sides.

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