Right-wing Israeli politicians tell US to drop support for 'dangerous' two-state solution

A number of right-wing Israeli politicians wrote to members of the US Congress on Monday telling them their support for a two-state solution in Israel and Palestine was "far more dangerous" than BDS.

The Congress last month voted overwhelmingly in favour of a non-binding resolution to condemn the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

The nonviolent BDS movement seeks to end Israel's occupation of the West Bank and push Israel to adhere to international law and human rights by pressuring corporations, artists and academic institutions to sever ties with Israel.

Just 17 lawmakers voted against the bipartisan bill, which also offered support for a "negotiated solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict resulting in two states – a democratic Jewish State of Israel, and a viable, democratic Palestinian state".

A group of 21 Israeli lawmakers from right-wing parties, including Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's Likud party, thanked the members of Congress for their condemnation of BDS in a letter sent on Monday.

But the Knesset members (MKs) also urged the US politicians to drop their support for a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, calling the issue "far more dangerous”" than BDS, The Jerusalem Post reported.

The MKs argued that, while many world politicians consider a two-state solution to be pro-Israel, the state of Israel and its population do not.

"The establishment of an additional Arab (so-called Palestinian) state in the region would severely damage the national security of both Israel and the United States," they claimed in the letter.

"Such a state would undoubtedly be a dysfunctional terrorist state, which would distance peace and undermine stability in the Middle East."

The letter, backed by Likud’s nationalist group, the Land of Israel Caucus in the Knesset, and Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, a leading organisation for illegal settlements in the West Bank.

The MKs also criticised AIPAC, prominent pro-Israel lobbying organisation in the US, for its advocacy for a two-state solution.

"Unfortunately, in the last few years, AIPAC is independently advancing the two-state solution," Dagan, an influential figure within Likud, told The Jerusalem Post. "AIPAC portrays the two-state concept as an Israeli interest to elected officials in America and as the official position of the Israeli government, even though this is untrue. 

"Furthermore, this is not the policy of the Trump administration, which has even removed it from the National Security Strategic Report."

Among the other Israeli politicians to sign the letter were Deputy Defense Minister Eli Ben-Dahan, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, and Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman Avi Dichter.