Vice President Kamala Harris’s support for a two-state solution to the Israel-Hamas conflict would only destabilize the Middle East further and fuel more terrorism against the Jewish state, Israeli and American experts warned this week.
"After Oct. 7, the two-state became a dead letter. A Palestinian state between Israel and Jordan will destabilize both countries and bring only additional terror and misery," David Friedman, who served as former president Donald Trump’s ambassador to Israel, told Fox News.
The warning comes after Harris reaffirmed her support for a two-state solution during Tuesday’s presidential debate on ABC. "We must have a two-state solution where we can rebuild Gaza, where the Palestinians have security, self-determination, and the dignity they so rightly deserve," Harris said. The Democratic nominee has repeatedly called for an independent "Palestinian state," despite Hamas’s ongoing terrorism and rejection of numerous U.S.-backed peace deals.
"Vice President Harris should stop parroting failed theories and trying to force a square peg into a round hole," Friedman said. "She should empower Israel to reach a just and workable solution on its own and not interfere in matters where she is neither competent nor well-informed."
Jonathan Conricus, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who served for 24 years as a combat commander in the Israel Defense Forces, echoed Friedman’s concerns.
"The so-called two-state solution may have been possible to implement 31 years ago," Conricus said, "but four straight Palestinian rejections of Israeli peace offers have made it clear that the current Palestinian leadership does not aspire to end the conflict and achieve peace."
Recent polling of Gazan civilians, according to Conricus, suggests that "the Palestinian population supports the genocidal vision of annihilating Israel through jihad, as demonstrated by Hamas on Oct. 7." A majority of Palestinians also want Hamas to retain control of the Gaza Strip after its war against Israel ends, according to a March poll.
"Giving Hamas the ultimate prize of statehood would be devastating for regional stability and peace and for American global standing," Conricus added. "Terror must not be awarded with statehood."