On Tuesday, Benjamin Netanuyahu left his ambiguous meeting with President Obama behind him for greener pastures – the US Congress. There has already been speculation that Netanyahu is planning on using the Congress to block any challenge from the Obama administration and we may have seen the first salvo. It seems congressional leaders are already adopting Netanyahu's language to distance themselves from the two-state solution. Here's video of Nancy Pelosi meeting Netanyahu:
Pelosi said, "There have been previous agreements that talk about a two-state
solution, but I emphasize the word 'solution.' It must be a solution
that provides for a Democratic, Jewish State of Israel, living
side-by-side with her Palestinian neighbors." I thought her separating out "two-state" from "solution" was an interesting and subtle turn of phrase. When you listen to her say it, she seems to be abandoning the "two-state" qualifier to the type of "solution" she is advocating.
I wouldn't have thought too much about it except that it sounded so much like Netanyahu's refusal to support a Palestinian state when he met with Obama. Netanyahu said, "If those conditions are met — Israel's security conditions are met,
and there's recognition of Israel's legitimacy — its permanent
legitimacy, then I think we can envision an arrangement where
Palestinians and Israelis live side by side in dignity, security and in
peace."
"Side by side" appears to be Israel's preferred language to describe its vision of a peaceful future. But what does side by side mean? It is a euphemism for a separate and unequal future for Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinians will not be offered even the most basic necessities for self-determination and yet they will be living "beside" Israel in peace. It won't be statehood, it won't be equal, and, from Netanyahu's perspective, it won't be Israel's problem any longer.
We've always known that Netanyahu doesn't support a Palestinian state. But now we're forced to ask – does Pelosi?
