This essay analyzes the impact of Israeli unilateralism—specifically that of its settlement project—on the two-state solution. After exploring the relationship between unilateralism and power, the authors show, inter alia, that in-migration has accounted for about half the settlement growth since the international embrace of the land-for-peace formula in 1991, that the level of in-migration does not fluctuate according to government composition (right or left), and that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have spurred rather than inhibited settlement expansion. The essay is framed by a contrast with the Palestinian bid for full UN membership, rejected as unilateralism by the Western powers but in fact aimed at undercutting Israeli unilateralism and creating the conditions for meaningful negotiations.
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June 2012
Research Article|
June 01 2012
Western Interests, Israeli Unilateralism, and the Two-State Solution
Neve Gordon,
Neve Gordon
Neve Gordon teaches politics at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and is the author of Israel's Occupation (University of California Press, 2008).
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Yinon Cohen
Yinon Cohen
Yinon Cohen is Yerushalmi professor of Israel and Jewish studies and chair of the Department of Sociology at Columbia University.
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Journal of Palestine Studies (2012) 41 (3): 6–18.
Citation
Neve Gordon, Yinon Cohen; Western Interests, Israeli Unilateralism, and the Two-State Solution. Journal of Palestine Studies 1 June 2012; 41 (3): 6–18. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/jps.2012.XLI.3.6
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