June 5, 2017, will mark the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Six-Day War — 50 years of occupation of the West Bank. To many Palestinians, this will mark the absolute deadline for the achievement of independence. To Israelis, it would offer a juncture for reflection on the country’s identity as a Jewish democracy. For many Israelis, the 1967 war turned out to be a bittersweet victory.
A senior Palestinian official close to President Mahmoud Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that time is running out for Palestinian diplomatic efforts. “We have given the political process with Israel every chance since 1988, and definitely since the Oslo Accord. But we have discovered that Israel is enamored with the occupation. Since the so-called peace process began, the number of settlers has almost quadrupled. Beginning in September this year, we will make a last diplomatic effort to allow for nonviolent resistance. Come June 2017, without Palestinian statehood, we will have no choice but to revert to an alternative strategy of achieving statehood through conflict.”
The implication was clear — the Palestinians feel that diplomacy is failing them and that the time may be nearing for a renewal of the armed struggle. Before that, and to avoid that path, they will reach out to the international community, seeking a process that imposes statehood based on the 1967 borders.
Israel is nearing a crossroads, too. The so-called one-state solution is gaining support among desperate Palestinians and Israelis. In reality, the one-state situation already exists. Stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River is one state, or one autonomous authority, which is totally dependent in all the aspects of its development on Israel. In other words, it’s a situation in which equality is impossible. It’s a situation of a quasi-apartheid relationship — with one state, but without a solution. By June 2017, Israel will have to decide if it is ready to share the sea-to-river land on the basis of two states and maintain its Jewish democratic identity or not. Time is running out.
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