The Long Israeli-Palestinian Impasse: Is the 'One-State Solution' the Answer?

The long impasse in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking has dashed the hopes for a nearterm resolution to one of the world's most intractable conflicts. The continuous expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank has made the creation of an independent and contiguous Palestinian state an exceedingly difficult undertaking that has gotten farther and farther from reach. Consequently, a growing number of scholars, practitioners, and activists have shifted their attention away from the two-state paradigm to the so-called "one-state solution." The latter, however, has dramatically different interpretations by its proponents, with one version premised on full equality and another on Jewish supremacy sans equality--irreconcilable positions. Only a small minority of Israelis and Palestinians, moreover, support the one-state solution in any of its variants. Unless steps are taken by the Israeli government to keep the two-state solution alive, Israel will become a binational state with the conflict remaining unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]