Stay Informed
Sign up to receive the Middle East Bulletin!
Support Middle East Progress
Original Commentaries
Setting the Record Straight
Two-State Solution Still Best Option
“In practical terms, we can reach two conclusions: First, a final-status agreement, although its details are known, cannot be secured in the foreseeable future. Second, the time has come to think about other solutions. One of them is a return not to the 1967 borders, but rather, to the reality that prevailed in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank.”
—Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, “The Jordanian Option,” YNet, September 3, 2008
"On both sides of the green line and, indeed, wherever people think about solutions to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a lot of old/new thinking is taking place. … Most of these ideas are patently unrealistic. Discussion of them often reflects despair, not pragmatic strategic thinking. … Precisely because there is no such alternative, other options more readily suggest themselves, ranging from temporary conflict management to three states or entities. Nor does failure today mean that tomorrow we cannot try again to arrive at a two-state solution, which remains the best option for all."
—Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the bitterlemons family of internet publications & former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, "One State Definitely Not an Option," bitterlemons.org, August 18, 2008
Middle East Analysis
April 23, 2008
“Our coalition and the Iraqi forces have seized the initiative in a major way, and put the enemies of Iraqi democracy on the run. The critics have been proved wrong. The surge is working, the forces of freedom are winning. … Our strategy is the right strategy. In fact, the only way to lose this fight is to quit."
--Vice President Richard B. Cheney, Remarks to the Manhattan Institute, April 21, 2008
“That’s part of the problem. We view the conflict there as one to be resolved by the American military. Now do not misunderstand me. The American military has performed magnificently, you can’t solve the problem there without them, but this tunnel vision that you’re gonna solve the problems of Iraq by military means alone is woefully inadequate, and the key is to use all of the tools of American power— intelligence of course, military, of course, economic, trade, aid, skillful people going over there.”
--Lee H. Hamilton, president and director, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, co-chair, Iraq Study Group, conference on “The United States and the Middle East: What Comes Next after Iraq?” keynote address, "Iraq: Today, Tomorrow, and Beyond," Tufts University, Medford Campus, March 27, 2008
In Monday's edition of the bulletin, we referred to Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland as Gloria Eiland. We apologize for the error.