A message to Israelis, Palestinians, Germans about Palestinian statehood - opinion

• Author: GERSHON BASKIN
• Published date: 13 October 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

At a joint news conference with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, Merkel went on to say: "I think that on this point, even if at this stage it seems almost hopeless, the idea of a two-state solution should not be taken off the table, it should not be buried… and that the Palestinians should be able to live securely in a state." She also said that Israeli settlement construction on occupied territories sought by the Palestinians was unhelpful.

In response, Bennett said: "Based on our experience, the meaning of a Palestinian state means that very likely there will be a terror state established, roughly seven minutes from my house and from almost any point in Israel."

Calling himself a "pragmatic man," he instead said he was prepared to take steps on the ground to improve living conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Hussein al-Sheikh, a senior Palestinian official who oversees relations with Israel, responded angrily. "The worst form of terrorism is the occupation, not the establishment of a Palestinian state," he wrote on Twitter.

To Chancellor Merkel and to the German people I would respond: If you are serious about the two-state solution, and you are not just paying lip service to an idea that has been on the table for at least two decades, then the least that you can do is to recognize the State of Palestine. Merkel repeated at every possible opportunity the commitment of the German state and the German people to Israel's security. German history provides continued reminders of the debt that the German people owe to the Jewish people, and the German-Israeli relationship is crucial to Israel's security.

But the German leader and the people of Germany also have to understand that the birth of Israel following the Holocaust led to the Nakba, and Palestinian collective memory cannot be detached from Jewish memory and German responsibility. If Germany would take the step in recognizing the State of Palestine, much of Europe would follow and perhaps even the United States could be convinced to take that step. If these countries are serious about not taking the idea of a Palestinian state off the table, then it is time to provide the recognition of that state that would then push the two states, Israel and Palestine, to get back to the table and deal with the need for state-to-state negotiations.

To the Palestinian people, I would suggest listening very carefully to the words of Prime Minister Bennett.

The point that Bennett raised regarding...