Should the Palestinians Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?

Most observers expected Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to target his harshest criticisms of the Palestinians during his U.S. trip on the Hamas-Fatah agreement. Surprisingly, his most important talking point turned out to be his demand for Palestinian recognition of Israel as a "Jewish state." To be sure, Netanyahu took every opportunity to denounce the Palestinian unity deal, compare Hamas to al Qaeda, and point out that some of its leaders had praised Osama bin Laden. But his most pointed, passionate, and persistent theme was that the core of the conflict, and the key to its solution, is that Palestine refuses to recognize Israel as a "Jewish state."

As he told a joint meeting of Congress, "It is time for President Abbas to stand before his people and say... 'I will accept a Jewish state.' Those six words will change history."

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor echoed Netanyahu, claiming, "The Palestinians' and the broader Arab world's refusal to accept Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state... is the root of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. It is not about the '67 lines." Washington resonated to the voices of Israeli officials and their supporters similarly insisting that the conflict is not about territory or Palestinian independence, but about this issue instead.

The idea that Palestinians need to formally recognize the "Jewish character" of Israel is relatively new. Indeed, it does not predate the Annapolis Conference of 2007, where it was briefly floated by the Israeli delegation. Back then, Palestinians rejected it as an irrelevant diversion from final-status issues such as borders, security, Jerusalem, and refugees. The George W. Bush administration wasn't impressed either, and in his address at the conference President Bush simply referred to Israel as "a homeland for the Jewish people."

The historic requirement for the Palestinians was, in the words of U.N. Security Council Resolution 242, to recognize Israel's "right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." The Jewish state issue was never raised during Israel's negotiations with Egypt and Jordan. The Palestine Liberation Organization formally recognized Israel in the Letters of Mutual Recognition in 1993, which were the basis for the Oslo process and all subsequent negotiations, while Israel merely recognized the PLO as the legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The PLO then went through a torturous series of emendations of its core documents. The Palestinians had, at that point, fully satisfied all extant diplomatic and legal requirements regarding recognition of Israel, and waited in vain for Israel to recognize an independent state of Palestine in return.

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JZDTREE

5:35 PM ET

May 25, 2011

Correcting the record

Netanyahu did hot invent the idea of a "Jewish State" of Israel. UN Resolution 181 of November 27, 1947, which ended the British Mandate, called for creation of "Independent Arab and Jewish States" in the region.

JOHNBOY4546

6:00 PM ET

Correcting the correction

The terms "Arab state" and "Jewish state" in UN resolution 181 are clearly DESCRIPTIVE i.e. they seek only to describe in shorthand notation the demographics of those two states at the time of partition.

Those terms were in no way meant to be a DEFINITIVE i.e. they did not seek to set in stone the fundamental nature of those states.

After all it is undeniably true that
a) it wasn't up to the UNGA to **name** those states, precisely because that is one of the perks of sovereignty and
b) it would get very old very quickly if the text of Res 181 had to keep repeating these phrases:"the state that has a lot of Arabs and only a handful of Jews" and "the state that has all the Jews and quite a lot of Arabs".

Look, the fallacy behind your claim is easy to see: if Res 181's reference to "Jewish state" was meant to define that state as "the state for the Jewish nation" then you would *also* have to conclude that Res 181's reference to "Arab state" meant that it was, likewise, "the state for the Arab nation".

Which would have come as quite a shock to the **other** 22 Arab states.......

ISRAELSUPPORTER

6:22 PM ET

What is the meaning of an Arab State?

The question has to be asked what is meant by another Arab or Palestinian State?
Will it be a democracy? Will it respect minorities Will women and gays have equal rights?

Let them put forth a constitution explaining what type of state they are asking for before they get the support of the world to establish it.

And then if they want a pluralistic liberal democracy, I would be a supporter, especially if Jews could also be citizens. It amazes me how the Palestinians claim Israel is a racist state and then say oh but in our future state not a single Jew or Israeli is allowed to remain.

BASE

10:06 AM ET

May 26, 2011

@ISRAELSUPPORTER

How about Israel also show us their constitution? Being a democratic state the definitely have one, right?

Wrong - they don't. They certainly enjoy casting aspersions however are completely unwilling to walk the walk.

ZIONINZION

12:07 PM ET

l will show you Israel's "constitution"

Our declaration of independence acts as a preface to a future constitution but it sets out basic principles of who we are:

THE STATE OF ISRAEL will be open for Jewish immigration and for the Ingathering of the Exiles; it will foster the development of the country for the benefit of all its inhabitants; it will be based on freedom, justice and peace as envisaged by the prophets of Israel; it will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; it will guarantee freedom of religion, conscience, language, education and culture; it will safeguard the Holy Places of all religions; and it will be faithful to the principles of the Charter of the United Nations.

THE STATE OF ISRAEL is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.

WE APPEAL to the United Nations to assist the Jewish people in the building-up of its State and to receive the State of Israel into the comity of nations.

WE APPEAL - in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months - to the Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions.

WE EXTEND our hand to all neighbouring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighbourliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East.

So there you go, these words were uttered and signed minutes before any REFUGEES or any WAR occured.

JUSTICEFORNOW

12:31 PM ET

Israel is the only country that has different laws for Jews and

non-Jews. You do not need a constitution when you have an Apartheid state. At least with South Africa, the majority of blacks were not forced to live in exile because they were of the wrong color, the way the majority of Christian and Muslim Palestinians are forced to live in exile because they are not Jewish.

6:10 PM ET

Settlements

"they reasonably feel that asking them to formally endorse language about Israel's character as a Jewish state might prejudice leverage they could get on other crucial final-status issues from compromises on refugee return"

By this reasonably logic, the parties should not give up their bargaining power until a final end of claim agreement.

Thne by the same logic, the Palestinians should not demand before negotiations that Israel should stop settlement building, especially in the larger blocs that will likely form part of the final State of Israel. After all, why should Israel give up their leverage on the Palestinians as this "might prejudice leverage they could get on other crucial final-status issues from compromises on refugee return.

So, let the negotiations start WITHOUT preconditions

IDIOTPRAYER84

7:41 PM ET

Common sense

Why should any party go into any negotiations while one of the parties is claiming more land for itself? The whole point of negotiations is to create permanent borders for both states and is impossible to draw these boarders if Israel is constantly creating "new facts" on the ground.

BETZ55

9:15 AM ET

Get some education

israelsupporter - go back to Israel if you love it so much, no man can serve two masters.It's not a Palestinian condition. It's an Israeli commitment from Oslo, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Roadmap that Israel needs to respect.

The settlement freeze is not a ‘precondition’ as Israel, AIPAC, and lackies like you are now espousing, but an obligation Israel undertook when it signed on to the 2003 international roadmap for peace plan.

The Palestinians don't have any conditions to resume negotiations. It's time for Israel to drop its preconditions that obstruct peace in the ME. It’s about Israel and its settlements, incursions and assassinations. It's not a Palestinian condition. It's an Israeli commitment from Oslo, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Roadmap that Israel needs to respect.

But then you knew that didn't you? Here is nuttinyahoo telling us how he derailed Oslo. Enjoy!

review the tape of Netty admitting he blew the Oslo Accords.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oslo_Accords#Remarks_from_Benjamin_Netanyahu

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkN1KMLZH4o&feature=player_embedded

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2010/07/18/tricky-bibi/

And one last thing, The Palestinains have demanded the 1967 borders for recognition of Israel as a jewish state and good for them. For all of Bibi's whining about Abbas’ 'preconditions' we all knew Bibi has his and would present them as excuses for derailing the peace process.

A couple good things will come out of this. The Palestinians will eventually have to thank the israelis for building them all those nice houses free of charge and of course the jews can stay and live in Palestine if they want to but they will be subject to Palestinians laws - up to and including home dispossession.

Israel’s self image as a liberal Jewish and democratic state is impossible to maintain against the reality of a militarized, ultranationalist, sectarian Jewish settler colony that has to carry out regular massacres of indigenous civilians in order to maintain its control. Zionism simply cannot bomb, kidnap, assassinate, expel, demolish, settle, and lie its way to legitimacy and acceptance,

Mankind no more needs a Jewish State than it needs a Muslim State, a Baptist State, a Hindu State, a Catholic State, an Episcopalian State, a Lutheran State, or a State of Constant Terrorism and Warfare such as Israel.

AARON11

7:48 PM ET

On "Israel's Right to Exist"

The Palestinians should only discuss Israel's right to exist, IF the Israelis can define what the borders of that state are: otherwise it is open season on Palestinian land.

MEE243

8:35 PM ET

Mr. Ibish doesn't understand "Recognition"

If you want to know what Recognition really means and why it is important, click below:
http://mashriqmadness.blogspot.com/2011/03/what-does-israel-insist-on-recognition.html

Recognition doesn't mean they want President Abbas to say in a speech that Israel is Jewish or to just sign a declaration to that effect (though that would be a good step).

Recognition means that the Palestinian Authority must change its education system and teach its children that Jews have a right to live in Israel.

There is no legitimate reason why two peoples can't have a claim to the same land. The Palestinians don't need to renounce their own claim. They need to teach their children that Jews have just as much a right to live there as they do, no more, no less.

If the Palestinians don't agree to this recognition and a peace agreement is signed without these changes, the peace is doomed to fail. Why would the average Palestinian accept an agreement with a state they believe has no right to exist? If Palestinian children continue to be taught from childhood that Israel is a colonial usurper, forced on the Middle East by imperialist powers, it doesn't matter what their leaders agree to on paper, they will continue to fight against Israel. The Palestinians must confront their rejectionist narrative and accept Israel as a legitimate partner.

This also means that Israel should be required to recognize an eventual Palestinian State as the nation-state of the Palestinian people. Israel will have to confront its own narrative and teach its children that Palestinians do exist and have just as much right to a state as they do. There has already been progress on this front in Israel, however, so far this has been mostly in universities.

For peace to be strong and lasting, it must be between people not just governments. That is what the issue of recognition is all about.

JBIRDMENJ

11:20 AM ET

May 27, 2011

I agree

Your post is eloquent. Most Jews believe that the Palestians real goal is to eventually destroy Israel. If they wanted to convince us that their real goal is a Palestinian state existing in peace next to Israel, they would take the steps described by Mee243.

AHSON HASAN

9:01 PM ET

Netanyahu has a point - don't miss it!

The answer to the title of this piece should undeniably be "Yes". Beyond all the rhetoric and politicking, Israel is there to be recognized, in black and white, visible as clear as day and night.

Moreover, if a nod from the Arabs, acknowledging the existence of Israel, can bring the much needed peace in the Middle East, isn't it high time that the lazy-minded, good-for-nothing, Arab leaders pause for a second, scratch their heads, and think realistically?

Netanyahu is not asking for the moon. He, as a matter of fact, is providing the Arab world with an opportunity to hold him accountable if he does not deliver on his promise of establishing peace in the region.

Netanyahu may just be another politician but he is no dope. Furthermore, Israel is a solid democracy where leadership is accountable to its citizens and responsibility toward the system and the people is a hallmark of the state mechanism.

Netanyahu cannot, therefore, come all the way to the US, address a joint session of Congress, plead for the recognition of Israel as the basic premise of starting a real peace process and yet be doubted by all and sundry.

Time is fast running out. People are coming out hot and heavy on the streets of the Arab world protesting against the dictatorships that have paralyzed their lives and ruined any chances of self-expression. The Abdullahs, the Hasans, the Asads cannot hold tight to the reins of power forever. We are witnessing a formidable change of attitudes; this is possibly the time when despotism and totalitarianism much give way to realism and pragmatism.

Netanyahu's trip should be looked at in positive light. This could be an extraordinary chance for the skeptics and the critics of Israel to step back, give up their insecurities and embrace the idea of Israel with open arms.

12:25 PM ET

This is like Obama asking the

This is like Obama asking the world that they need to recognize America as a Christian state or a White State. Arab states like Syria and lebanon have a large Muslim majority and they are not "muslim" states and no Crescent appear on the flag.

NORBOOSE

One simple truth

A nation cannot be a truly free democratic society and have a formalized ethnic identity, it's just impossible. If you truly act as a free society, you will observe universal human rights and give no preference to said ethnic identity, it comes to mean nothing. If you act to support the interests of one ethnic group within your nation, you cease to be a legitimate democracy. Israel cant be a "Jewish Democracy" today any more than we were a "White Democracy" a century ago. The point of that comparison is not to compare treatment of Palestinians and blacks. It's just to illustrate that though you can have some loyalty to an ethnic identity and democracy, you can't be equally loyal to both. You''l eventually have to pick one over the other, and in time your loyalty to that "other" will disappear.

B212BB

9:15 PM ET

formalized ethnic identity

I think your sentiments are noble but mistaken. Israel is the Jewish State in that the majority of the people there are Jewish and Jewish holidays and culture and the Hebrew language are dominant. However, Israeli citizens, regardless of ethnicity, are granted the same rights and privileges under the law and all are represented in Parliament (that is not to say that there isn't racism or discrimination existing in Israel towards its large Arab minority, but this sad fact doesn't disqualify Israel as a democracy anymore than it disqualifies France or Canada or the US).

Israel is the Jewish State like Germany is the State of the Germans or Poland is a Polish State. This does not conflict with democratic values or ideals.

11:44 AM ET

yes it can

Norboose, there does not seem to be any logical basis for your contentions. Most countries have enough of a majority of a single ethnic or religious group that the ethnic and religious character of the nation is taken for granted.

I would argue that democracy doesn't work when you have strongly opposed groups, one of whom, as a majority, is able to democratically impose its rule over the other against their wishes. Thats why democracy is not suited for places like Baharain or even Syria, where a majority could easily misuse its projected majority power to harm the minorities who now rule undemocratically. Democracy really only works when the voters or citizens enjoy a certain kinship, whether of ethnicity or of values, not where they are divided into groups that strongly oppose each other. Even the democracy of the United States is struggling right now, because of the disappearance of some of the common ground that used to unite Democrats and Republicans. Hopefully, the democratic values that have rooted themselves in the United States will continue to prevail, but I would not guarentee that this will happen.

CRMLA2

1:52 AM ET

The Arab apartheid

The real NAKBA which is the story of the arab apartheid . Tens of mlilions, among them jews,suffered from the NAKBA which included dispossession,dispossession, and displacement. Only the Palestinian remained refugee because they were treated to
abuse and oppression by the Arab countries. Below is the story of
the real “nakba.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YXt1QMxVyjbE_biHw9IAAi_SigLWLneI3QEJvQKsBQw/edit?hl=en#

COUNTCHOCULA1011

2:01 AM ET

Jewish State

1. Israel is no Jewish state. The state of Israel in no way enforces the halacha, so the idea of it being a Jewish state is utterly absurd. Just because you have a significant Jewish population in a country doesn't make it a Jewish state.

2. Why are Americans in particular so keen to emphasize this? Isn't one of the founding principles of our own state the idea that the state shall not establish an official religion? Why are we so keen to abandon this principle when it comes to Israel?

MGRAHAM

11:15 AM ET

re: Jewish State

You're right USmarine101, many ME countries have Islam officially enshrined in state. And many are undemocratic, corrupt thugocracies with listless economies, entrenched discrimination of ethnic and religious groups, that torture their own citizens. Is this really the standard we want to hold Israel to? "Everyone's doing it" is hardly an inspiring vision of the future.

Israel will have to choose between being a Jewish state with entrenched structural discrimination and repression of a majority, and a democratic one with a strong Jewish identity protected but not absolute. The more they delay the harder it becomes to have a second option. Whether congress sees this or not doesn't matter, it will be self evident the day that arabs become the majority that such a state does not meet the basic values that the US and international democracies claim paramount.

FORLORNEHOPE

6:06 AM ET

Apartheid

The only possible reason to insist on recognition of a "Jewish State" is to legitimise the disenfranchisement of the Arab minority. Within a lifetime it is perfectly possible that the minority could grow to become an effective majority of the Israeli electorate; where would that leave Israel's Jewish identity? The Quebeqois opted for "the revenge of the cradle", perhaps it's time the Israeli Arabs go on with some serious reproduction!

ANDREWP111

7:20 AM ET

If it is a Jewish State

If it is a Jewish State, then not only will the "refugees" never return, but all non-Jews currently there must be expelled. This is the only way that Jewishness be maintained permanently. During the next war (which will happen soon), Netanyahu needs to get on with it and expel the Palestinians.

MEDOLOSS

10:30 AM ET

really

they will do all what they can to delay peace or even prevent it at all...

GWALD89

11:10 AM ET

I agree Netanyahu isn't a peace processor but...

there are good reasons for that. I think the Palestinian demand for a full "right of return" is more comparable to Netanyahu's long term Jordan Valley military presence demand: they both make a mockery of two states for two peoples. And it doesn't matter if there are smart insiders like Mr. Ibish who understand 6 million Palestinians aren't going to live in Israel--it's necessary that the Palestinian public know and be prepared for that reality. It's essential for Israel's security and it's cruel to indefinitely tell the people in the camps to keep their keys.
I agree that insisting on being called a Jewish state is dumb (who cares how others define you?), but the Israelis feel that without it they won't get a true end of conflict. Judging by the border unrest this month, in which invaders carried Palestinian flags onto Israeli territory, at least some Palestinians are still very much ready to fight over 1948, not just 1967. And if the Arab Spring has taught us anything, it's that Arab publics can no longer be taken so lightly. In other words, deals made with dictators aren't worth as much as they used to be. So the real question is, are the Palestinians--not their foreign funded leaders, but the masses-- ready for an end of conflict, with no return? If you think the answer is no, then I think it's unreasonable to ask the Israelis to cede control of territory.

11:36 AM ET

Some other questionable assertions

1. Right of return being enshrined in int'l law: Well for every other refugee group, and there have been tens of millions of them since the Palestinians' own dispossession, the U.N. refugee organizations have acknowledged that the best option is to resettle them in their new countries, where they should be given full citizenship and be fully assimilated. This has led to peace in Eastern Europe, peace between Turkey and her European neighbors, and at least kept the conflict between India and Pakistan mostly cold. Even look at Baghdad: Would anyone in their right mind insist on returning displaced Sunnis to previously mixed and now Shiite neighborhoods? Separation isn't pretty, but it's the best option we have, and it is more or less the legal precedent we have (especially in cases where agressors started a war and got displaced).

2. "[W]ith impeccable historical credentials, their own country." Palestine has not been its own state for milennia, there was no national independence movement until the 1960s, and it wasn't popular until Nasser's Arab Nationalism lost in 1967. There were movements to rid the place of Jews and British rule, but there were plans to be part of Syria. That's not to say there isn't a real Palestinian identity today--but that's a very hard case to argue for existing in 1948.

11:38 AM ET

That should read Nasser's

That should read Nasser's Pan-Arabism, not Arab Nationalism.

12:18 PM ET

Only Israel can get away with this

KHALID RAHIM

12:27 PM ET

May 28, 2011

Recognition only after ?

The Palestinians should recognize the state of Israel only after the complete withdrawal of troops to June 01/ 1967 borders. Removal of the jewish occupants of from the illegal settlements with their personal belongings and handing the structures intact to PLO . This
would also mean returning territories to Lebanon,Jordon and Syria.
But the real truth is that the zionists will never accept the terms and
enforce their Will on the American Public through their proteges in the Congress, WhiteHouse and US administration to keep the land
under occupation and Palestinians under subjugation with help of
Arab rulers in the Middle East.

CASSIM

7:39 PM ET

The future of Peace and the Palestinians

The Israelis have systematically taken away everything that is right for the Palestinians. By having to impose controls on the very land that belongs to the Palestinians, controls on the right of movement, the ultimate objective of this whole process is for the Israelis to establish absolute 'ownership' and control over all land, that is Palestinian. In the name of security, the Israelis will continue with their forwad march of taking over more land and property, until the day comes when the Palestinians will not have any land to live on.
If the Israelis were genuinely interested to live in peace with their neighbor/s, this should have been since a very long time ago. The Israelis refuse to go back to the pre-1967 borders. They refuse to stop all settlements. They refuse to recognize the right of the Palestinians to return to their homeland.
Therefore, all this talk about having or to revive the 'Peace Process' is all nothing but a sheer mockery.
As the changes go thru in all parts of the Arab World, only time will tell us all as to what these changes will bear to the region, and to the whole wide world.

CAONABO

12:54 PM ET

May 30, 2011

Israel and Palestine, dis-functional fictions

The reality is that as presently constituted, the borders between Israelis and Palestinians are unworkable as guidelines for two separate independently viable countries. Only Israel, presently, would be viable in the event of a Palestinian state, because it is already the regional superpower. To recognize Israel as a Jewish state, the Palestinian Authority would have to acknowledge a fiction that Arab Israelis are invisible citizens of the Jewish State. Is Netanyahu asking the Palestinians to consider the Israeli Arabs as invisible men and women when he asks them to recognize "the Jewish State of Israel"? The United Nations ought to demand that Netanyahu recognize that Israel proper is and never has been a Jewish State exclusively for Jews.

The two states solution to the conflict has never been realistic. In fact, it has been the cause of the present impasse. The Palestinian areas function as, territories of Israel, much as the United States Virgin Islands (USA) , American Samoa (unorganized), and Guam are all self-governing territories of the United States wholly dependent on the USA.

When the world gets Israel to accept that because it contains non-Jewish citizens, it is not a Jewish state, the world can then create out of the entire regions a country called The Republic of Israeli-Palestine. That's right, scrap the territorial fictions, the 2 states idea. Create one country, one flag symbolizing the unity and equality of all citizens, make Jerusalem its capital, and create a Jewish State in a bit of its territory for those who want a Vatican type government within Israeli-Palestine. But what surrounds that enclave would be Israeli-Palestine, a country for both Israelis and Palestinians living together as equal citizens.

It could well work. After President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, few of his contemporaries ever believed that the former Confederate states could one day be fully integrated into our Union. Israeli-Palestine will take time to heal the wounds of a 63 years conflict.

See the analysis of Netanyahu's speech as a point of departure:
http://open.salon.com/blog/the_shadow_of_light/2011/05/27/israel_an_italy_or_a_vatican_quo_vadis

CNA

8:54 AM ET

June 22, 2011

The state of Israel is

The state of Israel is prepared to cooperate with the agencies and representatives of the United Nations CNA Florida in implementing the resolution of the General Assembly of the 29th November, 1947, and will take steps to bring about the economic union of the whole of Eretz-Israel.

PERSON_GUYZ

2:13 AM ET

June 23, 2011

That's right, scrap the

That's right, scrap the territorial fictions, the 2 states idea. Create one country, one flag symbolizing the unity and equality of all citizens, make Jerusalem its capital, and create a Jewish State in a bit of its territory for those who want a Vatican type government within Israeli-Palestine earnextramoneyonline.it wasn't popular until Nasser's Arab Nationalism lost in 1967