Benefits of 2 states

Kol hakavod to Rabbi John Rosove and Rabbi Joshua Weinberg for their insightful “A two-state solution: The only pragmatic path forward” (Comment & Features, March 7). While it will be difficult to obtain, a comprehensive, sustainable two-state solution that emphasizes Israel’s security concerns would have many benefits for Israel, including:

• Enabling it to remain both a Jewish and a democratic state

• Reducing terrorism and the threat of war

• Reducing diplomatic criticism and the isolation of Israel, important at a time when almost all the world’s nations are critical of Israeli settlements and control over Palestinians in Judea and Samaria

• Reducing Israel’s need to spend massive amounts for defense and security, enabling it to more effectively respond to its economic, environmental and other domestic challenges

• Enabling Israel to more completely fulfill its moral mission as a model of justice, compassion and peace as a light unto the nations (Isaiah 49:6).

In view of the above, it is essential that Israel refrain from steps that make obtaining a resolution of the conflict more difficult, including creating new settlements, annexing all or part of Judea and Samaria, and encouraging the shifting of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem prior to an end to the conflict. RICHARD H. SCHWARTZ Shoresh