The Three State Solution

I have decided that the two-state solution is not going to resolve the Israeli-Palestinean problem.

So let me tell you about the three state solution.

There will be three states, Israel, East Palestine, and West Palestine (as to names, the last two are placeholders; I do not know what the eventual names will be.

East Palestine will consist of the current West Bank, subject to final boundaries. It will presumably be controlled by Fatah and may or may not eventually combine with Jordan.

West Palestine is Gaza. It will presumably be controlled by Hamas.

The rationale: first, there is less commonality between West Bank and Gaza than imagined. They have not been part of the same polity since the end of the Ottoman Empire. They presumably have little family connections. They certainly have been isolated from each other since the formation of the state of Israel. They have political differences, and different economic considerations. The existence of a single Palestinean state separated by Israel will create continual problems and never permit the development of a truly autonomous Palestine.

Finally, as it is now 40 years since the 1967 war and the start of thinking about the two state solution, it is time to give it up as hopelesss. No political entity has a 40 year gestation period does it? Particularly no entity has spent 40 years in the desert.

Or am I forgetting something?