Recently, President Donald Trump when accompanied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has issued a statement declaring that a two-state solution is no longer the ultimate solution for peace in the region. Setting aside the fact that he’s discarded two decades of precedent, this declaration of his has only served to further militarize the Palestinian State, namely the Hamas organization who ultimately carry out the majority of attacks on Israel. Hamas has recently elected a new leader, Yahya Sinwar. Sinwar has been described as non-political, and was elected in an attempt to bridge the gap between Hamas’ political and military branches. This is a very bad sign for Israel, the Palestinians feel they are being mistreated and even abandoned by the United States, and are therefore opting for a more militaristic style regime. Purely based on this, we can most likely expect to see an increased number of rocket attacks sprouting from Palestinian controlled regions, which in turn will lead to an uptick in Israeli rocket attacks in retaliation; the exact opposite of the peace a one-state solution was intended to bring as stated by the United States and Israel. Also in response to President Trump’s statement, the United Nations and the Arab League have issued a joint statement reiterating support for a separate Palestinian State. They claim that it’s the only way to achieve a just settlement within the Middle East. Aside from President Trump’s abandonment of a two-state solution, he has also suggested moving the Israel embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem (also criticized by the UN and Arab League), which would not only violate international law, but most likely lead to an explosion of Palestinian- Israeli conflict, as both sides claim it as their capital. This wasn’t written in an attempt to launch an attack on President Trump; however, his actions have caused a shift in global politics. The United States is alienating itself from not only Palestine, but also the Arab League and the United Nations, who claim that our actions under the new administration could very well be supporting disregard for established international law. Aside from our falling out with major IGOs, this shift to blatant, unmasked militarism is a direct result of statements from the United States. Though President Trump was just acting on behalf of Israel, a close ally of ours, his actions may only lead to increased rocket attacks on Israeli civilians. While I don’t believe a two-state solution is actually attainable, the United States has to make sure they’ve emphasized how they’ll support the rights of Palestinian people, in what could very well become an “apartheid-like” state, if Israel attains full control over the region.
