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Indyk: ‘Two-state solution dying on Obama’s watch’

March 9, 2016

Martin Indyk, a former US Ambassador to Israel and special envoy to the Middle East for the Obama administration, is increasingly doubtful that a two state solution can ever be accomplished.

“In the absence of negotiations, actions on the ground are making it more and more difficult to see how a two-state solution could be achieved,” Martin Indyk told Reuters.

Indyk, who now works as a senior official at the Brookings Institute, a liberal public policy think tank in Washington, noted a similar pessimism in the White House regarding the prospects for a Palestinian state.

“I think there is a real concern on the part of the president and the secretary of state that instead of achieving a breakthrough to a two-state solution, the two-state solution will die on their watch.”

In another statement Indyk suggested that those fears were justified, and that a two state solution was in all likelihood no longer relevant. “Obama and Kerry are looking at the very real likelihood that the two-state solution could die on their watch.”

The former peace envoy’s comments confirm what senior US officials have suggested in recent discussions with the media, including a report to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week reflecting growing concerns in the White House that a two state solution may no longer be possible.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal this week, anonymous sources within the administration stated that the White House was increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress on the diplomatic front, and had growing concerns about the future of a two state solution.

They revealed that the Obama administration was considering a final push to lay the groundwork for a negotiated settlement, including the possible use of unprecedented steps like a United Nations Security Council resolution outlining some of the basic terms of a two state solution.

Other less dramatic steps reportedly being considered include a policy speech by President Obama, possibly at the United Nations, laying out the principles for a negotiated settlement.

One senior US official speaking to Reuters noted the strenuous efforts among White House officials to keep the two state solution politically relevant.

“People in the government are asking the question what can we do to keep the two-state solution alive, and they’re generating ideas.”

But with the ongoing terror wave claiming more lives and relations between the White House and Israel remaining frigid, even President Obama believes that serious progress towards a peace treaty during his last 10 months in office “is not in the cards”.

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