Editorial | Harris Said What Israeli Center-left Leaders Won't: We Need the Two-state Solution

Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris giving a thumbs down during the presidential debate with Donald Trump in Philadelphia on Tuesday.Credit: Saul Loeb/AFP

In her reference to the war,
Harris dared say words that in Israel have been banished from legitimate discourse: talking about a two-state solution. 

The things Vice President Kamala Harris said in the presidential debate in Philadelphia with former president Donald Trump were very important. It's good that they were said now, in the middle of an interminable war, partly due to the refusal of Israel – both coalition and opposition – to formulate an explicit vision for the Middle East on the "day after."

In her reference to the war, Harris dared say words which in Israel have been banished from legitimate discourse: talking about a two-state solution. She claimed that the only way to ensure Israel's security is to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including a recognition of the Palestinians' right to self-determination. The war "must end immediately. And the way it will end is we need a cease-fire deal, and we need the hostages out and so we will continue to work around the clock on that, also understanding that we must chart a course for a two-state solution."

For Harris, this solution must include "security for the Israeli people and Israel, and an equal measure for the Palestinians." It's obvious that the vice president is not indifferent to the threats facing Israel. "But I will assure you always, I will always give Israel the ability to defend itself. In particular as it relates to Iran, and any threat that Iran and its proxies pose to Israel, but we must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination and the dignity they so rightly deserve."

One cannot overstate the importance of presenting a political vision and linking it to ending the war, when the only people presenting a (nightmarish) vision in Israel at present are on the radical right, whose members are exploiting a historical window of opportunity provided by Yahya Sinwar, which they can realize with the help of their accomplice, or their "messiah's donkey," Benjamin Netanyahu.

The radical right is attempting to nullify the 2005 disengagement from Gaza and the Oslo Accords, doing so with the help of its representatives in the government, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir. The road to this catastrophe includes the establishment of a military government and a rebuilding of settlements in the Gaza Strip, the creation of chaos in the West Bank and a toppling of the Palestinian Authority. This harrowing vision could be realized, with disastrous results. It will cost a fortune, in lives and money. It will undermine Israel's relations with moderate Arab states and turn it into a pariah state, in the world and for many of its citizens. Moreover, it will perpetuate terror and war.

The only alternative to this is a two-state solution. Harris did well in raising its banner in a TV broadcast with peak viewing. The fact that leaders of the center-left camp in Israel are not doing so only demonstrates the weakness and pusillanimity of Israel's opposition.