It’s time for a communal rethink
October 7 wasn't an anomaly. It echoed the 1929 massacre of Hebron's Jews by their Arab neighbours.
Everybody remembers what they were doing when they heard the news of October 7, 2023. The images are indelible. A terrorist boasting to his parents about killing Jews, a woman executed in a field, evoking Holocaust imagery. Noa Argamani’s terrified face as she was dragged away on a motorbike.
Among the depravity, one image stood out. Two terrified red-headed boys and their mother desperately shielding them from the mobs of Gaza civilians. Thousands cheered the massacre, greeting the terrorists, kicking, tearing apart any Jew within reach. Jubilant Gaza civilians reappeared recently, as Jewish hostages were tormented in public spectacles. Even the Bibas boys’ bodies weren’t spared. If the two-state idea died on October 7, it was buried alongside the Bibas boys.
Many killed on October 7 were advocates for a Palestinian state, like Vivian Silver, founder of Women Wage Peace. Yocheved Lifshitz eulogised her husband, Oded, who drove sick Gazans to Israeli hospitals saying, “We fought … for peace. To my sorrow, we were hit by a terrible blow by those we helped on the other side.” At the Nova festival, hundreds of young Israelis were murdered and raped by their neighbours, extinguishing a generation of the peace movement.
October 7 wasn’t an anomaly. It echoed the 1929 massacre of Hebron’s Jews by their Arab neighbours.
Many times since, Israelis have tasted unspeakable savagery from Palestinians, like the point-blank shooting of pregnant Tali Hatuel and her babies or the butchering of the Fogel family in their beds.
Today, a Palestinian state is a fringe opinion in Israel.
Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005. Gaza elected Hamas. The lesson is that Israeli withdrawals bring war. Even talks about withdrawal brought waves of exploding buses and cafés.
Palestinian support for two states is also negligible. Many who support it see it as a step toward dismantling Israel.
Moderate Arab nations have abandoned their insistence on a Palestinian state, enabling the Abraham Accords. Republicans, including US President Donald Trump, are shifting away from it.
Locally, Coalition backbenchers I speak to express doubts, although they lack Trump’s chutzpah to challenge the status quo.
But we cannot expect Australian politicians to be more pro-Israel than our own Jewish organisations.
AJA is the only major Jewish organisation in Australia that doesn’t support a Palestinian state, a stance advocated since inception. Last week’s AJN poll demonstrates the Jewish community has shifted and AJA’s position is shared by the silent majority.
In fairness, the other groups rely on the correct assumption that the Palestinians would never actually accept a state. Betting Israel’s future on the whims of the Palestinians is perilous.
The two-state idea was always terrible. Tiny Israel would shrink to “Auschwitz borders”, just 15 minutes wide with a Palestinian state towering over its cities from the Judean Mountains. Rockets and tunnels would be daily occurrences. The massacres would dwarf October 7. Hamas would win elections in Judea/Samaria (West Bank). The corrupt Palestinian Authority (PA) hasn’t held one for 20 years and isn’t much better. Its extremist textbooks and “pay for slay” program have created generations of terrorists.
Judea/Samaria is the cradle of Jewish identity. Rachel’s Tomb, Hebron’s Cave of the Patriarchs and even the Kotel are beyond the Green Line.
So, if we don’t create Palestine, what’s the solution? Proposals include variations of “Jordan is Palestine”, Egyptian/Jordanian governance over the Palestinians or Israeli sovereignty over Judea/Samaria or parts of it. None are flawless but until now, the two-state behemoth backed by the UN, the Democrat Party and Europe stifled alternative ideas.
Trump’s proposal for Gaza shattered the status quo. Details aren’t yet clear, but he’s shown that after a century, the conflict is ripe for new thinking. Those shrieking the loudest about Trump’s plan are the first to support ethnically cleansing the half-million Jews in Judea/Samaria.
In the next four years, Israel will likely apply sovereignty, with Trump’s support. Australian Jewish groups risk a collision course with Israel unless they adapt.
Diaspora Jews are not responsible for solving the Middle East conflict and should not impose utopian solutions which Israelis and Arabs reject. Supporting Israel means respecting Israelis. At minimum, Jewish organisations should stop advocating for a Palestinian state and adopt a neutral position, open to new solutions. This would give allies like the Coalition space to rethink their positions and would send an important international signal.
A reversal on two states would not be unprecedented. Following October 7, Jewish organisations shifted rightward on the Greens and interfaith relations with Muslim groups, adopting long-term AJA positions.
The Palestinians have developed a culture of violence and hate. Israel won’t wait for generations of brainwashing to reverse. Palestinians have rejected numerous offers of a state. There won’t be another offer. Two states living in peace is a fantasy. Israelis know it. Arabs know it. President Trump knows it. Australian Jewish organisations must face reality.
Robert Gregory is CEO of the Australian Jewish Association (AJA).
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