Israeli Left Sociologist Rejects Two-State Solution
Yehouda Shenhav, author of Beyond the Two-State Solution, advocates one comprehensive space, for Israelis and Palestinians.
For many years, sociologist Yehouda Shenhav has rejected the two-state solution that became, in his eyes, the only paradigm of the Israeli left. As far as he is concerned, this is a violent, inapplicable solution that only promotes the next war.
Paradoxically, Shenhav — regarded as belonging to the radical left — has become an isolated, aberrant phenomenon in his camp. He is viewed as a figure who harms the group’s efforts when he brandishes the one-space solution.
But now Shenhav feels that things are changing; that more and more people, including right-wingers and Palestinians, are beginning to distance themselves from the worn-out two-state solution that Shenhav is sure will never be realized.
One of the experiences that strengthened his feelings on the matter is the Sept. 15 debate in which he participated vis-à-vis Jewish-American journalist Peter Beinart, considered the strongest spokesman of the Israeli left in the United States. The event was sponsored by the Institute for Israel and Jewish Studies at Columbia University, following the publication of the English version of Shenhav’s book, Beyond the Two-State Solution.
