By Irv Schiffman

Almost overnight, there has emerged a cohort of Israelis who believe that only via a one-state solution can Israel remain both democratic and Jewish. This unexpected development was started by former minister of defense Moshe Arens. This view has also been stated by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin.

In the HaAretz op-ed, Arens suggested that Israel seriously consider the option of a single state west of the Jordan, in which Palestinians be granted full citizenship. He is proposing a Greater Land of Israel Lite, without Gaza. In his view, a Jewish majority will remain even after annexation, assuming there are only 1,5000,000 Palestinians in the West Bank. The assumption is that, without Gaza, and not counting those Palestinians who might choose to return from their diaspora, Jews will continue to be the majority — not the 80% majority they are today, but a comfortable 60% majority.

The Arens-Rivlin viewpoints are important because it means that the lead is not being taken by the Orthodox settler camp, who believe that the Jews are divinely mandated to control the whole of the Land of Israel, but by people like Arens and Rivlin, secular Jews who are uncomfortable with the 43-year-long occupation of the West Bank and recognize that the international community is increasingly impatient with it; who have no confidence that negotiations for a two-state solution can succeed or, if they do, that the resultant states can live amicably with each other, and who believe that in the one state they champion, Jews can still be the dominant force

Most Palestinians — and many on the Israeli left — argue that there are now too many Israeli settlements in the West Bank for a viable, contiguous Palestinian state to arise there. Israeli governments have enabled the settlement of over half a million Jews beyond the 1967 borders. This represents almost 10 percent of the Jews in Israel. About 300,000 of them live in some 121 settlements and about 100 outposts in the West Bank and about 200,000 are in the twelve Jewish neighborhoods of East Jerusalem.

Moreover, in keeping with the Oslo Accords, Israel continues to rule over 60 percent of the West Bank—“Area C.” This includes all the settlements, the main roads, and the whole of the Jordan Valley and the Judean Desert. In these areas, the settlers and the Israeli Defense Force have almost complete control, and within Area C are “reserved tracts” through which Israel regulates the water supply and the flow of traffic on the roads.

The increased interest in a unitary state was initiated by a 2003 New York Review of Books article written by the historian Tony Judt. Judt viewed Israel as “an anachronism,” and saw little virtue and much vice in the admittedly amorphous idea of “a Jewish state.” He proposed that Israel accept a future as a secular, bi-national state in which Jews and Arabs enjoyed equal status.

In one sense, the idea of a unitary state from the Mediterranean to the Jordan is not new. It had a modest run in the 1920s and 1930s, back then endorsed by such Zionist luminaries as Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah; Judah Magnes, president of the Hebrew University, and Martin Buber, the eminent philosopher.

In 1947 King Abdullah of Jordan argued that the only solution to the Palestine problem was the country’s transformation into an Arab state in which the Jews would enjoy local autonomy and he would be interested in annexing this Arab state to Jordan.

It flared briefly into view in the 1970s, when Yasir Arafat urged that “all” of Palestine be transformed into a “secular, democratic state.” And now, according to Danny Rubenstein, on the Palestinian side national unity has dissolved, the national movement has atrophied and declined, and the idea has become acceptable that if there won’t be two states for two peoples, it is better that there be one state.

There are, of course, many problems associated with a bi-national state. Jewish cultural hegemony would have to be largely renounced and give way to a multicultural model, that is, a secular state with voluntary religious institutions. With close to even Jewish and Palestinian populations, Jews would have to be willing to accept Ze’ev Jabotinsky’s suggestion that the President of the state could be sometimes Jewish and sometimes Arab. Economic inequality, which is very high in Israel today, would increase even further and create huge problems. Moreover, in a two-state solution, the Palestinian right-of-return would be to a Palestinian state; allow their return to a bi-national state and they might soon become the majority

There can be different models of a bi-national state, such as the Swiss confederative model. But if you look at European bi-national states such as Belgium and Bosnia- Herzegovina, the results do not look promising. Could a cohesive society emerge after a century of bloody conflict between the two sides?

On the other hand, the forces working against a two state possibility are also many and powerful. There are those among the settlers who will fight with all their strength to prevent an Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of a Palestinian state. And they will have support in the Knesset and possibly in the army. The opposition of Hamas and the security threat it poses will make even Jewish supporters of the concept reluctant to see it instituted.

And even if you could get past the settlement and security problems, there are the core issues of Jerusalem, water, the right-to-return, land swaps, boundaries, territorial contiguity and safe passage

Benny Morris in his book, One State, Two States: Resolving the Israel/Palestine Conflict (Yale Univ Press 2009) concludes, despite his rejection of the “one-state” solution, that the “conventional” two-state solution – a Palestine composed of the West Bank and Gaza, with a guaranteed access between the two, and an Israel essentially within the 1967 Truce lines, with or without land swaps – is no longer viable. The area that would be Palestine is far too small. His proposed solution is for an enlarged Jordan: one that will encompass Gaza, the West Bank and Jordan (with or without land swaps to allow for the major settlement bloc(s)). It is doubtful, however, that the Hashemite rulers of Jordan would welcome the possibility of a Palestinian super-majority.

In light of the above, it’s difficult to find reasons for optimism for either a one-state or two-state approach to resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict. But, with discussions now taking place between the two sides, there are those who think that Netanyahu is less of a hawk than people believe, that both the Israelis and Palestinians want a settlement to be achieved, and that the core issues can, in fact, be dealt with. We shall see.

Join us as we celebrate the festival of lights with favorite
traditions—latkes smeared with sour cream and applesauce
prepared by our fabulous crew, sufganiyots, and singing
and dancing with our talented CBI band.

Remember to bring your Menorahs so that we can light candles on the
3rd night of Hanukkah, and recite the blessings together!

As a tzedakah project to help those less fortunate, please bring items to be donated to the
Torres Shelter. You can find a list of desired items on their website.
The CBI GIFT SHOP will be set up to sell their
outstanding gift items during the party. The money comes back to support
programs at CBI. Haverot will also be donating and handing
out dreidels and gelt to the children.

Cost for the evening (including dinner) is just $8, $4 child ($20
maximum per household).

Let’s fill the hall and enjoy the evening with glowing
candles, spinning dreidels, joyous Hanukkah songs and
lively dancing.

To offer help with cooking, set-up or clean up, contact Donna Greenberg.

Hanukkah 5772  is coming soon: December 20-28.

The CBI Gift Shop has all your holiday needs, including various types of candles, menorahs, dreidels, gelt, and lots of other goodies for the holiday.
Shop for Hanukkah gifts on these days (all at CBI except for the Hanukkah Party at ARC Pavilion):
Tuesday, November 29, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (during Shul School)
Tuesday, December 6, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (during Shul School)
Saturday, December 10, 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (during the CBI Silent Auction)
Tuesday, December 13, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. (during Shul School)
Thursday, December 22, 6 p.m. (during the CBI Hanukkah Party at ARC Pavilion)