Palestine can govern itself within an Israeli state

The argument

The idea of a two-state system — one where both Israel and Palestine coexist in the same region and claim shared ownership of Jerusalem — no longer seems like a viable option to proponents of this approach. Decades of negotiation on that basis have not produced two states, and the argument here is that continuing to insist on the framework guarantees continued deadlock rather than eventual success. Instead, the proposal of autonomy plus creates a situation where Palestine and Israel can peacefully live together. The reasoning behind autonomy plus is that it separates the two things the two-state framework bundles together. Palestinians would gain genuine self-government — control over their own civil affairs, institutions and community life — without the full sovereign apparatus whose creation Israel has treated as a security threat. Autonomy plus therefore affords the Palestinians the ability to govern themselves without presenting a threat toward Israel, and on this argument that is what makes it achievable where more ambitious formulas have failed. This solution could bring peace to the region and quell future wars, because it asks each side to concede the point it has been least willing to concede for the longest. Additionally, proponents note, the United States government supports this stance: President Donald Trump and his Senior Advisor, Jared Kushner, advocate the autonomy plus plan as a viable option to bring peace to the region. The backing of the party that has historically brokered agreements in the region is treated as evidence that the plan is more than theoretical. With the recent Israel-UAE peace agreement, there is seemingly reason to believe that peace in the Middle East — particularly between Israel and Palestine — will come to fruition, since it suggests that arrangements once dismissed as impossible can in fact be concluded. Palestinian autonomy within an Israeli state, on this view, allows both peoples to live within their community, venerate their idols, and peacefully exist.

Context

For decades, there has been tension and wars between Israel and Palestine over the creation and recognition of a Palestinian state in the region. As a different option away from the two-state solution (one where both Palestine and Israel co-exist as two states in the same area), the autonomy plus solution has been floated by many leaders. This solution to the conflict creates one state (Israel) in which Palestine can exist autonomously.

Premises

Counter-arguments

The idea that Palestine can govern itself within an Israeli state ignores the will of the Palestinian people. The Palestinian Authority has made its demands for peace clear – they want an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital. The Israeli Prime Minister’s call for autonomy plus falls short of those requirements. Peace between Israel and Palestine seems unlikely without a two-state solution. The argument some make that Palestine can exist within Israel is unfeasible.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P2] Self-government within an Israeli state does not meet the terms the Palestinian side has set: the counter notes that the Palestinian Authority has stated its requirement plainly as an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and that autonomy plus falls short of it, so the arrangement leaves out the will of the people it is meant to accommodate. [Rejecting P1] The counter treats the two-state framework as still the condition of a settlement rather than a spent option, holding that peace appears unlikely without it and that a Palestine existing inside Israel is not workable.