EU foreign chief, in Gaza, calls for Palestinian state

[Martin Eden]

7. Ain't gonna happen, barring some kind of sesmic shift

First of all, Gaza and the West Bank are not contiguous. It's hard to picture a nation-state with two sections divided by a historical enemy.

More importantly, the West Bank cannot be a sovereign nation while it is peppered with Israeli settlements and roads connecting those settlements, controlled by Israel. I just don't see how that can work.

A Palestinian state which includes the West Bank can be viable only if Israel abandons all its settlements there (many of which are multi-generational) or if the Israelis living there agree to be subjects of Palestinian authority with no protection from Israel.

Under what circumstances will either of those scenarios come to pass? I remember a few years ago the uproar in Israel when a small group of settlers were forced to vacate an illegal outpost. Barring some unforeseen seismic shift in Israeli politics, the long-established settlements will not be abandoned or left unprotected by Israeli authority.

I also don't see an end to the unconditional support and subsidy of Israel by the USA. The Israeli lobby is far too powerful politically in this country. There is very little to be gained in domestic American politics for advocating what would be necessary to create a viable Palestinian state. Barring some seismic shift, it is political suicide.

Either the politics in Israel and/or America would have to change drastically, or the balance of power would have to be so altered that Israel and America can't prevent it.