Jeffrey Goldberg, Columnist

The Tragic History of the Two-State Solution

The Israelis pursued a two-state solution even before there was an Israel. The Palestinians, and their Arab advocates, have rejected each previous attempt to bring about such a solution.
Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak on the opening day of the 2000 Camp David talks. Source: White House Photo/Newsmakers via Getty Images
Lock
This article is for subscribers only.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry recently ignited a diplomatic conflagration after he suggested that Israel might one day find itself to be an apartheid state. (My exegesis of the controversy can be found here.)

It was my belief before this unfortunate comment that Kerry was a friend of Israel, and it remains my belief that he is a friend of Israel. This belief is not shared by people to my right. Based on my incoming e-mail, there are some who believe that Kerry is a latent -- or active -- anti-Semite. More reasonable people have suggested that Kerry has at least given Israelis, and friends of Israel, cause to doubt the sincerity of his publicly expressed pro-Israel sympathies. "I really don't think friends of Israel should use the A word," one friend of mine wrote by e-mail.