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Israel Supporter's Dramatic Shift Shocks Establishment

Associated Press

   JERUSALEM - An influential American commentator has sent shock waves
   through the Jewish establishment and Washington policy-making circles
   by breaking a long-standing taboo: He has endorsed the idea of a
   democratic entity of Jews and Palestinians living with equal rights
   between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean, arguing that a
   two-state solution -- Israel and Palestine -- is no longer possible.

   In making his case, Peter Beinart challenged a core tenet of Western
   foreign policy and of discourse among many Jews around the world of
   needing to ensure the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.

   Beinart took aim at decades of failed efforts by U.S. and European
   diplomats, as well as Israeli leaders who he believes have undermined
   the idea that establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside
   Israel is the best way to peace.

   "There's a category of people in the U.S., Jewish and non-Jewish, who
   had been like me committed to the two-state solution for a long time
   and have been quietly losing faith in it but didn't necessarily see an
   alternative," Beinart said in an interview, after publishing a July 8
   op-ed in The New York Times and a longer piece in the magazine Jewish
   Currents, where he is an editor at large.

   The logic behind the two-state solution is straightforward. If Israel
   continues to control millions of Palestinians who do not have the right
   to vote, Israel will have to make a difficult choice: maintain the
   status quo and stop being a democracy, or grant the Palestinians the
   right to vote and lose its Jewish majority. An independent Palestinian
   state is widely seen as meeting both sides' aspirations.

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