This week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Force would occupy the Gaza Strip, following announcements by France, Canada, and the United Kingdom that they would recognize Palestine as a state.
Will recognition of Palestine make a difference? What would it take to achieve peace in Gaza? Newsweek contributors Dan Perry and Daniel R. DePetris debate:
The decision by the U.K. and France to recognize an independent Palestinian state is unlikely to have any effect on the situation whatsoever. This was the definition of a symbolic move, in large part due to frustration over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stewardship of the war in Gaza as well as the horrible images depicting starvation that are streaming out of the enclave. The facts on the ground are such that a two-state solution—a U.S. policy objective for decades across Republican and Democratic administrations—is at best on life support and at worst already dead. The U.K. and French bids won’t change this. Only the decisions of Israel and the Palestinians will.
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