Two-state call is a reality check for Israel's elites

Yesterday morning, Israeli air strikes on refugee camps in northern and central Gaza killed four people, according to local authorities. Such deaths are an almost daily occurrence; more than 41,200 Palestinians have been killed across a ruined Gaza and hundreds more in the occupied West Bank since the war began last October. In this gruesome context, talk of a Palestinian state can seem speculative but it cuts to the heart of the conflict.

When Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, stated on Saturday that the UAE will not support post-war efforts in Gaza without the establishment of a Palestinian state, he was emphasising and championing the growing global momentum for Palestinian self-determination as the only realistic and comprehensive way of breaking the cycle of conflict. It was also a reality check for those in Israel’s elites who may be labouring under the delusion that other countries will resolve the Palestinian question for them.

There is no shortage of goodwill and practical solidarity for the Palestinian people among Arab countries, and the UAE has been in the vanguard of those nations that have sent lifesaving aid and treated the sick and injured, all while championing calls for an immediate ceasefire at the highest levels. The Emirates has also indicated a willingness to support a temporary international mission in Gaza after the war – but only at the request of the Palestinian government.

The Palestinians are a people who have had too many decisions made over their heads already, and their agency will be vital to the task of eventually rebuilding Gaza – work that will take a generation. The UAE is making it clear that the Palestinians themselves will be instrumental not only in the days after the war but in building their own future. It is not a job that can be outsourced. However, good governance and leadership from the Palestinians are instrumental for that to happen.

In fact, it is Israel’s sidelining of the Palestinian people that has, arguably, helped create this current catastrophe. Continuing occupation and settlement building in the West Bank, with a stranglehold on the futures of two million Gazans was always an unsustainable status quo. Sadly, the consequences arising from years of such occupation appear not to have been heeded by Israeli decision makers, some of whom have doubled down on their rejection of Palestinian statehood.

A July vote by Israeli MPs to reject Palestinian statehood in principle took place days before Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – another high-profile opponent of Palestinian sovereignty – travelled to Washington to address the US Congress. Other Israeli Cabinet ministers are on record as explicitly opposing Palestinian self-determination.

Far from ensuring Israeli security, such intransigence further isolates the country politically and diplomatically. If anything, support for Palestinian statehood through a two-state solution is more common than before, including among many and allies of Israel.

Already this year, several countries have unilaterally recognised Palestine and in May the UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly in favour of Palestinian membership; last week, delegates queued to greet Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Authority’s UN ambassador, as he took his place at the General Assembly. On Friday, ministers from the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation and four European nations reiterated their position that a two-state solution is the “only way to establish lasting peace and security” for Israel and Palestine.

That peace and security will have to be built with political and practical support from outside Israel and Palestine, but it cannot be done if Palestinians are denied a path to building their own state, and without Palestinian unity and good governance. Resolving these core issues is key to stopping the current war and further conflict in the future.