Why There Cannot be a Two State Solution

Israel has once again been forced by a massive surge in rocket bombardment of Israeli citizens living in the south to attack Hamas and related terror groups in Gaza, a Gaza which Israel made a complete and total disengagement from in the summer of 2005, every man, woman, child and IDF soldier. Over the years since Israel turned all of Gaza over to self-rule by the Palestinians there has been a steady increase in the range and destructive capabilities of the rockets fired out of Gaza. The latest to be introduced are supplied by Iran and consist of the Fadjr MLRS (multiple launch rocket system) which has a range to reach southern Tel Aviv but is inaccurate as it has no guidance system, yet; and the Kornet anti-tank guided missile which is the Iranian made copy of the Russian weapon system. The Fadjr has a range of 75 km with a 95 kg warhead, a sizeable increase over the Grad and Katyusha rockets which have made up the majority of salvos fired into Israel. When Israel left Gaza they turned the area over to the Palestinian authority who held it until a year later when Hamas revolted and threw the Palestinian authority out in a coup. It was after the Hamas takeover that the rocket barrages began and within a few months the Israelis found it necessary to impose an embargo on the Gaza Strip in order to prevent a massive influx of weaponry from Iran and other suppliers who supported Hamas. One must also remember that Hamas got their start as a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, the same Muslim Brotherhood which currently rules in Egypt. Hamas has also become one of the terror outfits that is supplied by Iran in order to use them against Israel should Israel ever attack the Iranian nuclear sites, Hamas along with Syria (not at the moment as Syria has enough problems of their own) and Hezballah in Lebanon.

Knowing the history and record of how the world got to this point with Gaza and Israel is important as the probability of exactly the same turn of events occurring in Judea and Samaria (West Bank) should they be delivered into the hands of the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli civilians and IDF and police forces removed in a unilateral disengagement. It is a well-known fact among those who have studied the area and particularly the Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority that without the presence of the IDF and Israeli security and border police throughout most of Judea and Samaria that Hamas would remove the Palestinian Authority and replace them with a Hamas controlled government. Allowing a two state solution would simply be allowing Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the other various terror entities which now attack out of Gaza to also have free run to strike at Israel from the Judean Hills which overlook the most densely populated areas of Israel and which hold the vast majority of Israeli industry, power stations, petroleum storage and vital infrastructure. Another very possible result of allowing a two state solution to be imposed would be the fall of Jordan to any of three different threats, either the Muslim Brotherhood, the Salafists, or the IRGC backed Shiites. Which one would make little difference as any of the three would allow free passage of any and all weapons and personnel across the Jordan River into Hamas ruled West Bank. It would very likely make the Allenby Bridge into a military pipeline flowing in one direction, west. Allowing a Hamas State to form on the Eastern borders of Israel would spell the end of any possibility for any Israelis to live a normal life without the constant fear of rockets pouring down out of the sky any time of the day or night. It is also a given that the Palestinian Authority could not hold on to power in the West Bank any better than they had in Gaza. If an election were held, then Hamas would win, if not somebody even worse, just as they did when United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted that Hamas be allowed to run in the last Palestinian authority elections held in 2005.

Israeli security and existence as a livable place would be in jeopardy should the Palestinians be allowed a state in Judea and Samaria, especially if such an entity were allowed any form of military. Where coexistence might be possible with the Palestinian Authority in control, though even this is highly unlikely, they would not remain in control past the first election. The chance of Hamas or similar terror entity taking control of the entire Palestinian state is likely to occur even before they have a chance to hold elections, very similar as what occurred in Gaza. The geography and the fact that Judea and Samaria control the heights that overlook the central plains of Israel make allowing the Judean Hills to be used as launching pads is national suicide for Israel. When one takes history into account and views the rearming of Hezballah in Lebanon while the United Nation have peace keepers in place presumably to prevent just such an occurrence, one immediately realized the futility of even suggesting such a solution. The Six Day War in 1967 took place despite United Nations observers in the Sinai Peninsula. When President Nasser of Egypt demanded their removal, they packed their duffle-bags and went home. There was even a short cease-fire called during the fighting in Gaza to allow the safe passage of a train containing Indian peacekeeping troops who were leaving the Sinai. Giving the Palestinian another state, Jordan was originally established to be a state for the Arab Palestinians by the British in 1922, is completely unworkable unless the desire and reason is to dissolve Israel under a constant barrage of rockets from one end of the country to the other without leaving one square inch as a safe refuge. But that may be the intent of all those who keep claiming that it is the path to peace. We all honestly know what kind of peace such would purchase.

Beyond the Cusp