Detrumpification and Two-State Solution
In general, it has been agreed that the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be in the realization of the two states coexisting peacefully.
US President Joe Biden continues his foreign policy “detrumpfication” program, this time in dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli issue.
As chief executive, Biden has adopted a different stance from his predecessor Donald Trump over the interpretation of Article II of the US Constitution, with the latter once stating, "I have the right to do whatever I want."
On April 7, 2021, Washington formally announced a disbursement of US$235 million in aid to Palestine and pursued a two-state solution to the conflict.
In the Deal of the Century announced on January 28, 2020, Trump stated that Israel would get the security it needed, while Palestinians would get the state they craved.
In reality, the “deal”, which the BBC called "a huge gamble", was seen by many as a trigger of uncertainty in the efforts to find a resolution of the conflict, because Israel could get a lot, while Palestine could only get "very little".
According to Jeremy Bowen (BBC), Palestine could become a truncated state without proper sovereignty, surrounded by Israeli territory and threaded between Jewish settlements.
Two-state solution chances
In general, it has been agreed that the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict must be in the realization of the two states coexisting peacefully. The two-state solution concept envisions Palestine and Israel’s past demarcation drawn by the Green Line under the 1949 Armistice Agreement before the Jewish state occupied the West Bank and Gaza following the 1967 Six Day War.
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However, Yehouda Shenhav in his controversial book Beyond the Two-State Solution (2012) says the two-state solution is an illusion because it ignores historical realities and offers no long-term solution.
Palestinians celebrate in the streets following a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas in the Gaza Strip, on May 21, 2021 in Gaza City. - A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, came into force early on May 21, 2021 after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.
The pursued solution is said to do little for the millions of Palestinian refugees and will also require the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Jews living across the Green Line. Therefore, the Green Line should be abandoned and a new type of polity should be formed, with a new set of constitutional arrangements that address the rights of Palestinians and Jews.
The Deal of the Century is seen by Prime Minister Netanyahu as Trump\'s support for the annexation of all residential blocks in the West Bank and the Jordan Valley, a 100 km area along the Jordan River between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea.
The “deal” also declares Jerusalem, including East Jerusalem, as the capital of Israel and recognizes Israeli sovereignty over about 70 percent of the West Bank. It means Palestine will become something akin to an archipelago on the mainland connected by bridges and tunnels.
Today, nearly 700,000 Jews live in more than 100 settlements (from just five in 1968) in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
UN Resolution 242 clearly emphasizes “the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory through war”, and international laws also stipulate that occupiers cannot settle their people on occupied land.
As such, all Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal, because these regions (and Gaza) will be the future state of the Palestinian people.
Oslo Accords
In fact, the principle of the two-state solution was agreed upon in the 1993 Oslo Accord, which was signed by PLO leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli PM Yitzak Rabin. The two sides in principle recognized their respective rights to exist, and accepted UN resolutions 242 and 338. Palestine agreed to make peace with Israel in return for Israel’s retreat from of the boundaries as it was before 1967, and both were prepared to do away with violence.
The following year, the authorized area was expanded to six other cities, after a further agreement (Oslo II) was reached, while the seventh city (Hebron) would be returned in 1996.
In 1994, under the Cairo Agreement, it was agreed to form a Palestinian authority and that Israel withdrew from Gaza and Jericho. The following year, the authorized area was expanded to six other cities, after a further agreement (Oslo II) was reached, while the seventh city (Hebron) would be returned in 1996.
The Oslo Accord II split the West Bank and Gaza into three parts in terms of administrative and security management, which needed to be discussed later.
Unfortunately, the implementation of the Oslo peace process was "disturbed" by hardline groups on both sides. A Jewish extremist, Baruch Goldstein, opened fire on Muslim pilgrims in Hebron in 1994, and in the same year, the Palestinian militant group Hamas voiced its rejection of the two-state solution and began to launch suicide bombings.
Hamas leader Khalil al-Haya flashes the V-sign for victory as people take to the streets to celebrate the ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the two main Palestinian armed groups in the Gaza Strip, in Gaza City on May 21, 2021. - A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, came into force early on May 21, 2021 after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.
All these peaked with the assassination of Rabin by a Jewish extremist while the prime minister was attending a peaceful demonstration on November 4, 1995.
The following political dynamics on both sides, which saw the stepping down of PM Ehud Olmert (from the moderate Kadima Party) and the rise of Netanyahu (from the hardline Likud), and the victory of Hamas in the Palestinian elections in Gaza (2006), practically undermined the efforts to build trust that had been initiated.
Despite facing serious obstacles, the two-state solution based on the Oslo Accords should remain the reference, with a number of conditions.
First, Palestinians and Israelis should realize that the process of solving the conflict will be long and gradual. Discussions about the status of Jerusalem, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Gaza and the Jordan Valley, as well as the repatriation of Palestinian refugees clearly demand a balanced “give and take”.
Second, the Palestinian authority and Israel must be able to restrain hardline elements on their respective sides. Palestinians have squandered a "golden" opportunity when, in 2008, the two sides agreed on the principle of dividing Jerusalem, refugees repatriation and the cession of 93 percent of the land in the West Bank as offered by PM Olmert.
The pullout of Israel from the Sinai Peninsula as part of a peace agreement with Egypt, between 1979 and 1982, could be used as a reference. At that time, Israel had to dismantle 18 residential areas, two air bases, a naval base and other installations, including the oil fields it controlled.
Third, President Biden must also be consistent and committed to his “detrumpification” program. The contentious fact is, amid the complexity of the issue, about Biden’s statement that his administration will not change Trump’s stance regarding Jerusalem (as the capital of Israel). How come?!
Formed in February 2020 on the sidelines of the annual session of the Munich Security Conference, the group aims at helping the new US government.
With the “detrumpification” initiative, the Munich Group, which consists of Egypt, Jordan, France and Germany, is expected to work on building trust and reviving the Palestinian-Israeli dialogue. Formed in February 2020 on the sidelines of the annual session of the Munich Security Conference, the group aims at helping the new US government.
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Unfortunately, the group’s initial proposal for the administering of Covid-19 vaccines, the liquidation of the prisoners\' bank accounts, the return of the bodies of Palestinian fighters and the suspension of the construction of new settlements was rejected by Israel.
Indonesia\'s contribution
Indonesia actually has the opportunity to contribute to the sought-after resolution of the conflict that has dragged on for the past seven decades. While possessing potential resources, Indonesia is still facing the main obstacle to playing its role in the peace process, as it has no diplomatic relations with Israel.
First, Abdurrahman Wahid was well known since 1994 and lauded by the Haaretz daily as "Israel\'s Friend in the Islamic World". When he became president, Gus Dur, who was an honorary member of the Simon Wiesenthal Foundation, had planned the opening of RI-Israel diplomatic relations.
Second, the cooperation between the two countries has been established for a long time, including in military. Through Operation Alpha in 1979, Indonesia purchased an A-4 Skyhawk fighter from Israel, which was in use until 2004.
Third, it was reported that, in an informal meeting between high-ranking Indonesian and Israeli officials in Geneva in 2006, Israel offered to give Indonesia a mediation role on condition that Indonesia recognized the Star of David state.
Fourth, Indonesian citizens have been known for a long time as regular visitors – albeit with special administrative arrangements – of Jerusalem, the third holy city of three Abrahamic faiths.
Fifth, trade has been established for a long time and, in October 2020, reached $174 million, with Indonesia enjoying a surplus of $66 million.
On the other hand, RI-Palestine relations are also very close, one testament being the establishment of a grand hospital in Gaza by Indonesia, not to mention assistance in capacity building. Recognition of the existence of a Palestinian state must be a priority, and it is only "one step" away.
Palestinians who have returned to their neighbourhood, assess the damage in their home hit by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, after a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas, on May 21, 2021. - A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the Islamist movement which controls the Gaza Strip, appeared to hold today after 11 days of deadly fighting that pounded the Palestinian enclave and forced countless Israelis to seek shelter from rockets.
This can serve as a leverage for Indonesia to persuade Hamas, which is dominant in the region, to abandon its armed resistance strategy, and, together with the Fatah group, push for negotiations.
Apart from that, the reality also shows that half of the countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), which was formed in 1969, now have diplomatic relations with Israel, with the latest recognition coming from the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict is understood to be not a religious conflict, considering that people of the three Abrahamic faiths have long lived side by side in Israel.
That Indonesia has so far been reserved about diplomatic relations with Israel because of waiting for Palestinian independence seems to have lost relevance.
While Biden may not deliver what some had expected of him, whatever initiative is put forward, the two-state solution remains the best option. According to David Horovitz (Times of Israel, 6/8/2020), the two-state solution remains the worst yet only way of solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Yehouda Shenhav may call it an illusion, but in reality, this is the most realistic solution.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, right, meets with Palestinian Fatah official Azzam Al-Ahmad at the foreign ministry in Cairo, Thursday, May 20, 2021. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
The question is whether Indonesia, which is a consistent proponent of the two-state solution, is willing to take up the challenge?
Dian Wirengjurit, Geopolitical and International Relations Analyst
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
