The Rights of Israel's Palestinian Minority in the Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

The escalating conflict within Israel today between its Jewish majority and its Palestinian minority is not just an issue of domestic importance to Israel that threatens the country’s internal stability and even its democratic regime. It is also an issue that is inextricably linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Thus, we have to rethink the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The existence of a sizable Palestinian national minority within Israel means that it is wrong to believe that the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians can be solved by the two-state solution alone, that is a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Under the best circumstances, an agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority over the future of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem can only be a first step toward an overall settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A comprehensive, lasting, and stable solution to the conflict is ultimately dependent upon a resolution of the Jewish-Palestinian conflict within Israel as much as it is dependent on resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. The establishment of a Palestinian state, therefore, must be accompanied by an enhancement of the status and rights of the Palestinian minority in Israel. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not be over until the individual and collective rights of Palestinians in Israel are also respected and accommodated