Israel’s dilemma
PremiumObservers do not expect much movement towards a two-state solution that would offer Palestinians national sovereignty over Gaza and the West Bank
After 12 years of Benjamin Netanyahu at its helm, Israel has had a leadership shift. A right-wing nationalist, Naftali Bennett, has taken charge as prime minister. He’s expected to run an unwieldy coalition that also has leftists and then hand over power to a centrist ally, Yair Lapid, after two years under the terms of a political pact that was forged with Netanyahu’s ouster as its key aim.
Not only is the arrangement peculiar, its ideological mix might limit its scope to alter Israel’s stance on a resolution of the Palestine dispute that has kept the country on edge since its 1948 creation as a safe state for Jews after the Holocaust. Observers do not expect much movement towards a two-state solution that would offer Palestinians national sovereignty over Gaza and the West Bank. As that aim looks elusive, the new regime must find other ways to get the peace dividends that Israel needs. Equal citizenship for all within the country and its occupied territories could be a viable alternative. But then, demographic trends suggest that its self-definition as a Jewish state could come under pressure. It’s a dilemma that its new coalition must crack if it hopes to make a difference
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