Israel Policy Forum is deeply alarmed by today’s comments by Senior Adviser to the President Jared Kushner publicly disavowing the two-state solution. While these remarks are not surprising, given the Trump administration’s record, they are nonetheless profoundly disturbing. Such a blatant repudiation of the two-state solution means forsaking the only framework for a future agreement that has ever been accepted by both Israelis and Palestinians and signifies that any Trump peace initiative will be useless from the start. White House rejection of the two-state solution will also provide valuable diplomatic cover to a newly energized pro-annexation movement in Israel seeking to incorporate some or all of the West Bank into Israel’s sovereign territory at the expense of the country’s democratic credentials and long-term security. It will also shift the paradigm among Palestinians who may feel increasingly inclined to pursue a one-state outcome, resulting in a non-Jewish or binational state. The end result is to put Israel’s Jewish, democratic, and secure future at risk. We urge the Trump administration to reconsider and clarify its approach in a manner consistent with the two-state model supported by previous Republican and Democratic presidents.
