In analyzing a Delegitimization Network operating mostly in the West with an agenda opposed to the State of Israel as an embodiment of the Jewish right to self-determination, the Reut Institute has long tracked the rise of rhetoric promoting a One-State Solution – based on the principle ‘one man, one vote’ – to the Israeli Palestinian conflict.
A recent Foreign Policy article by Israeli journalist Dmitry Reider contends that the one-state discourse is on an accelerant rise within the Middle East as well. Reider cites the steady influence of Palestinian Diaspora elements – such as Edward Said, Ghada Karmi, and Ali Abunimah – that have long advocated for a One-State Solution. The more surprising case he makes regards the evolution of “this once-taboo idea” into the mainstream Israeli discourse and advanced by Israeli intellectuals making the case for the approach’s viability.
Reider points to “an exponential rise in mainstream Israeli media of articles that seriously consider the one-state arrangement” – citing three such articles from 2004 to 2007, and 16 pieces from 2008 to 2010. While the ideas generated tend to be inchoate and vaguely formed, Reider concludes that their increased prevalence indicates that persistent failures in the pursuit of a Two-State Solution correlate with the phenomenon is which “more inclusive, far-reaching alternatives are taking shape.”
General
Amit Granek
Yuval Holtzmann
Ronit Gudes
Gidi Grinstein
Gaddy Weissman
Calev Ben Dor
Yossi Horesh
Dana Preisler
Omri Dagan
Eran Shayshon
Liran Bainvol
Merav Pick
Noa Ecker
Netaly Ophir
Yariv Mann
Reut Institute
Omri Zegen
Yael Weisz
Toni Hasson
Talia Gorodess
Gil Murciano
Anat Horowitz
Abed Assli
Daphna Kaufman
Shay Gurion
Elad Leshem
Aliza Petrack
Jessica Brandt
Yael Brendel
Martin Ben Moreh
yotamhacohen
The one-state solution is linked to the contrast argued by the Left between democracy and Jewishness as mutually exclusive political arrangements. They are not on the same level of abstraction and cannot be thought of as alternatives. A Jewish state can be democratic or autocratic just as a democratic state can be ethnucally/ racially defined or diverse, or, for that matter, a diverse state autocratic. Israel is the home of the Jewish people. That is its reason for being. As such it has a better track record as a democratic state than any Islamic country in the world. Minorities would be better protected in Israel as a Jewish state with civil rights for all than they would in “One State” in which an Islamic majority would soon dominate and by Shira law require the subjugation of all minorities to Islam.