A panel of American foreign policy experts gathered virtually to make what they called “The American Case Against Palestinian Statehood” in a webinar hosted by the Heritage Foundation and Israel365 Action.
The event, moderated by Rabbi Pesach Wolicki, featured prominent voices in conservative national security circles, including James Carafano of the Heritage Foundation, Ilan Berman of the American Foreign Policy Council, and Michael Doran of the Hudson Institute, Dr. David Wurmser of the Center for Security Policy and Mr. Clifford May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Speakers argued that pursuing a two-state solution with the Palestinians would undermine American interests and reward extremism in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
“We are further from the conditions for a Palestinian state than at any time since before the start of the Oslo Accords,” said Mr. Berman, citing polling showing widespread Palestinian support for the October 7 attacks.
Dr. Doran characterized the Biden administration’s push for a two-state solution as “internationalizing Gaza” in a way that would empower Hamas behind a façade of Palestinian Authority control. He argued American interests would be better served by Israeli security control and sovereignty over the Jordan Valley.
The panelists framed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of a broader struggle between the U.S. and an axis of China, Russia and Iran. Dr. David Wurmser of the Center for Security Policy argued that Israeli defeat of Palestinian terrorist groups was necessary to demonstrate the superiority of Western values.
While the experts acknowledged the suffering of Palestinian civilians, they were skeptical of efforts to “de-radicalize” Palestinian society absent total military defeat of groups like Hamas.
The event highlighted the gulf between the Biden administration’s stated goal of a two-state solution and the views of many conservative foreign policy thinkers who see Palestinian statehood as contrary to U.S. interests in the region.
Former President Donald Trump has also remarked that he no longer supports Palestinian statehood and so conservative experts could be instrumental in a future Trump administration’s policies looking for new solutions to peace in the Middle East.
