Pragmatic on Mideast peace
Re “Bye-bye, two state solution?” editorial, Feb. 16
Your statement that “the president just undermined the most realistic strategy for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” is illogical. As you concede, both Democratic and Republican administrations attempted to achieve peace based on the so-called two-state solution. This has failed.
Our new president never said that he is abandoning the two-state solution; he merely said he wants the one-state solution to also be on the table. Whichever of these the parties choose after negotiations, the United States would support. Perhaps a one-state solution could produce better results.
Your editorial correctly indicates that the demand by Palestinians is full citizenship and full voting rights, while the position of the Israelis is much different. Perhaps Trump, the ultimate dealmaker, can try to bridge the gap. How can you say that exploring any other possibility is wrong when no progress has been achieved?
I respectfully submit that any new attempt to reach a peaceful solution is better than the current stalemate. Andrew Friedman Los Angeles
Trump claims that he is a great negotiator and that he would use his skills to win beautiful deals for America —so many wins that we would get tired of winning.
Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met Wednesday. What great win did Trump win? An Israeli promise to help more wounded Syrians refugees? A pledge to restart peace talks with the Palestinians? An agreement to stop constructing illegal colonies in the West Bank?
No. Trump abandoned the two-state solution in exchange for nothing. If this is an example of his negotiating acumen, I am unsurprised that his businesses have declared bankruptcy four times.
A one-state solution in which Palestinians do not have full equality with Jews would mean that Israel would be an apartheid state. Arch Miller Arcadia
Many in the mainstream media and on the left side of the political debate promote the obviously false equivalency that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders are equally responsible for the lack of a peace agreement.
They do so without any recognition or reference to Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip. Israel unilaterally withdrew from this land in 2005 as a peace offering. The group just chose Yehya Sinwar, a Obama administrationdesignated“global terrorist” opposed to any concessions to Israel, as its political leader in the Gaza Strip.
As a lifelong Democrat, it pains me that only Republicans and Trump seem to understand Netanyahu’s common-sense reason for giving up on a two-state solution: “How can you make peace with someone who rejects your very existence?” Alan Segal San Diego