View source for Isratin

{{Short description|Proposed solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict}}
{{Unfocused|reason=it focuses more on the one-state solution, which has its own [[One-state solution|article]], than on the proposal itself|date=August 2025}}
{{For|the general strain of thought advocating for a binational Jewish-Arab state in the Levant|One-state solution}}
{{pp-extended|small=yes}}
{{Israel-Palestinian peace process |Proposals}}'''Isratin''' or '''Isratine'''<ref>{{Cite web |date=2004 |title=Isratine |url=http://www.algathafi.org/medialeast/INDEX-E.HTM |website=Muammar Gathafi official website|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040401210146/http://www.algathafi.org/medialeast/INDEX-E.HTM |archive-date=2004-04-01 }}</ref> ({{langx|he|ישרטין}}, {{Transliteration|he|''Yisrātīn''}}; {{langx|ar|إسراطين}}, {{Transliteration|ar|''ʾIsrāṭīn''}}), also known as the [[bi-national state]] ({{langx|he|מדינה דו-לאומית}}, {{Transliteration|he|''Medina Du-Le'umit''}}), is a proposed [[Unitary state|unitary]], [[Federation|federal]] or [[Confederation|confederate]] Israeli-Palestinian state encompassing the present territory of Israel, the [[West Bank]] and the [[Gaza Strip]]. Depending on various points of view, such a scenario is presented as a desirable [[one-state solution]] resolving the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], or as a calamity in which Israel would ostensibly lose its character as a [[Jews|Jewish]] state and the [[Palestinians]] would fail to achieve their national independence within a [[two-state solution]]. Increasingly, Isratin is being discussed{{By whom|date=September 2025}} not as an intentional political solution{{spaced ndash}}desired or undesired{{spaced ndash}}but as the probable, inevitable outcome of the continuous growth of the Jewish [[Judea and Samaria|settlements]] in the [[West Bank]] and the seemingly irrevocable entrenchment of the [[Israeli-occupied territories|Israeli occupation]] there since 1967.

== Saif al-Islam Gaddafi ''Isratin'' proposal ==
The Gaddafi Isratin proposal intended to permanently resolve the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]] through a [[secular state|secular]], [[federalism|federalist]], [[republicanism|republican]] [[one-state solution]], which was first articulated by [[Saif al-Islam Gaddafi]], the son of [[Muammar Gaddafi]] of [[Libya]], at the [[Chatham House]] in [[London]] and later adopted by Muammar Gaddafi himself.

Its main points are:
* Creation of a [[binational solution|binational]] [[Jew]]ish-[[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] state called the "Federal Republic of the Holy Land";
* Partition of the state into five administrative regions, with [[Jerusalem]] as a [[city-state]];
* Return of all [[Palestinian refugee]]s;
* Supervision by the [[United Nations]] of free and fair elections on the first and second occasions;
* Removal of [[weapons of mass destruction]] from the state;
* Recognition of the state by the [[Arab League]].

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi's proposal was eventually incorporated in Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's book {{Langx|ar|إسراطين — الكتاب الأبيض|translit=ʾIsrāṭīn — al-Kitāb al-ʾAbyaḍ|lit=Isratine — The White Book}} released in the year 2000,<ref>{{Cite web|title=إسراطين الكتاب الأبيض|url=https://www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.aspx?id=lbb190081-159163&search=books|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200501143620/https://www.neelwafurat.com/itempage.aspx?id=lbb190081-159163&search=books|archive-date=1 May 2020|access-date=16 Nov 2021|website=Neel wa Furat}}</ref> which served as his official guide to address the [[Arab–Israeli conflict]] and how to solve it.<ref name="Al Gathafi 2003">{{cite web |last=Al Gathafi |first=Muammar |title=White Book (ISRATIN) |year=2003 |url=http://www.algathafi.org/html-english/cat_03_03.htm |access-date=2008-04-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080415223111/http://www.algathafi.org/html-english/cat_03_03.htm |archive-date=April 15, 2008}}</ref> Despite the suggestion of "Federal Republic of the Holy Land" as the name of this hypothetical new state, the name '''Isratin''' ({{langx|he|יִשְׂרָטִין}}, {{Transliteration|he|''Yisratin''}}; {{langx|ar|إسراطين}}, {{Transliteration|ar|''ʾIsrāṭīn''}}), a [[portmanteau]] of the names "Israel" and "Falastin" ("Palestine" in Arabic and Hebrew){{spaced ndash}}variously spelled in English as "Isratine" or "Israteen" and sometimes rendered "Israstine"{{spaced ndash}}has been used as a "[[working title]]" for the notion of a single state in Israel, the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]], with [[Palestinians]] and [[Jewish]] inhabitants of all three having [[citizenship]] and [[civil rights|equal rights]] in the combined entity.

Muammar Gaddafi again championed the "Isratin proposal" in an [[op-ed]] article for the ''[[New York Times]]'' as the "only option" for a solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. The timing of the article approximately coincided with the inauguration of [[Barack Obama]] as President of the U.S. and with the cease-fire that apparently marked the end of the [[Gaza War (2008–09)]].<ref name="NYT" /><ref name="AP/IHT article">{{cite web|publisher=Associated Press |title=Gadhafi says US should seek peace with bin Laden |work=International Herald Tribune |date=2009-01-21 |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/21/america/NA-US-Libya.php |access-date=2009-01-22 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090125211222/http://iht.com/articles/ap/2009/01/21/america/NA-US-Libya.php |archive-date=January 25, 2009}}</ref> Gaddafi argued that this solution would avoid the partitioning of West Bank into Arab and Jewish zones, with buffer zones between them.<ref>{{cite web|title=Kadhafi calls for one-state solution for Palestine problem |url=http://www.albawaba.com/en/countries/Libya/239647 |website=Al Bawaba}}{{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

== Popular support ==
[[File:Israel_-_Location_Map_(2012)_-_ISR_-_UNOCHA.svg|thumb|Map of [[Israel]]]]
[[File:Palestine_Base_Map.png|thumb|Map of [[Palestine]]]]
The belief of both proponents and detractors of the Isratin scenario is that a single state in Israel, the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]], would provide citizenship and equal rights in the combined entity for all its inhabitants, without regard to ethnicity or religion.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} It is precisely for such reason that such a scenario is regarded by the majority of Israelis and Palestinians as unthinkable.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} The Israeli political left-wing, both Jewish and Arab, argues that continuing Jewish [[Judea and Samaria|West Bank settlement]] is creating a situation whereby Israel and the West Bank would become either an [[Israel and apartheid|apartheid]] state with full civil rights for [[Israeli Jews]] and [[Arab Citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]] and limited [[autonomy]] for [[Palestinians]]{{spaced ndash}}as currently practiced under the [[Palestinian Authority]]{{spaced ndash}}or a bi-national state in which [[Zionism|Zionist]] Israel would cease to exist as a homeland of the Jewish people. Similar arguments are raised by Palestinian leaders, who frequently warn Israelis and the international community that time is rapidly running out for the implementation of the [[two-state solution]] as the Jewish West Bank settlements continue to expand. Despite their diaspora-style support of the Palestinian cause, a large majority of [[Arab Citizens of Israel|Israeli Arabs]] fiercely oppose any political solution which would reduce their status as purely Israeli citizens, including any one-state solution which would effectively merge them with the West Bank Palestinians from which they have developed separately{{spaced ndash}}both economically and politically{{spaced ndash}}for over 70 years.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} Israeli Arabs are economically much better off than their Palestinian cousins.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

In a positive sense, while some advocate Isratin as a one-state solution for ideological reasons, others feel that due to the reality on the ground, it is the only practicable solution.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=346|title=One State Threat - Reut Institute|website=www.reut-institute.org|access-date=2009-10-17|archive-date=2017-06-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170630054834/http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=346|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>[http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1905 Logic of Implosion] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202124951/http://www.reut-institute.org/Publication.aspx?PublicationId=1905 |date=2014-02-02 }} at the Reut Institute.</ref>

A bi-national solution enjoys the support of about a quarter of the Palestinian electorate, according to polls conducted by the [[Jerusalem Media and Communications Center]].<ref name="jmcc.org">[http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2007/no63.pdf Poll No. 63] by [[Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre|JMCC]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004192538/http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2007/no63.pdf |date=October 4, 2009}}</ref> A multi-option poll by Near East Consulting (NEC) in November 2007 found the bi-national state to be less popular than either "two states for two people" or "a Palestinian state on all historic Palestine".<ref>[http://www.neareastconsulting.com/surveys/all/p211/out_freq_q21.php/ Near East Consulting November 2007]</ref> However, in February 2007 NEC found that around 70% of Palestinian respondents backed the idea when given a straight choice of either supporting or opposing "a one-state solution in historic Palestine where Muslims, Christians and Jews have equal rights and responsibilities".<ref>[http://www.neareastconsulting.com/surveys/ppp/p22/out_freq_q27.php/ Near East Consulting February 2007]</ref>

Among Palestinians, opponents of the idea include [[Islamists]], who argue that it would run contrary to the goal of an Islamic State and some [[Arab nationalists]], who criticize it for going against the idea of [[Pan-Arabism]].{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

Israeli opponents argue that one state would erode the notion of Israel as a Jewish state. The main obstacle is the fact that demographic trends show the likelihood of a near-term majority Arab population west of the [[Jordan River]] (including the land within the internationally recognized borders of the state of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza). The probability that Palestinians would constitute an electoral majority in a bi-national state is seen by many Israeli Jews as a threat to the very premise of Israel, explicitly created as a Jewish state in the aftermath of the Holocaust. A 2000 poll soon after the outbreak of the second intifada found 18% of Israeli Jews supported a binational solution.<ref>[http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2000/no39b.htm#results Public Opinion Polls] by [[Jerusalem Media & Communication Centre|JMCC]] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091004212708/http://www.jmcc.org/publicpoll/results/2000/no39b.htm#results |date=October 4, 2009}}</ref>

== Modern background ==
Israel's capture of the [[West Bank]] from [[Jordan]] and the [[Gaza Strip]] from [[Egypt]] in the [[Six-Day War]] of 1967 recommenced the pre-1948 discourse concerning the one-state scenario, while at the same time giving the two-state solution arguably the only window of opportunity to become a reality.

Israel's victory over its neighbours was greeted by euphoria within Israel, but some critical Israeli and foreign observers quickly recognised the new territories could pose a major long-term problem, and a considerable debate followed about what to do next. One option was the one-state solution: to annex the newly acquired territories (extend Israeli law and sovereignty to the new territories) and give the Palestinians living in these territories Israeli citizenship, similar to the [[Israeli Arabs]] who were absorbed into Israel as a result of the 1948 war.

However, the vast majority of Israelis, left and right, including political parties supporting the West Bank settlement movement, feared that such a solution would significantly dilute Israel's Jewish majority. In the early 1980s, the pro-settlements [[Likud]] Prime Minister [[Menachem Begin]], supported Palestinian autonomy under eventual Israeli sovereignty. The [[Israel Labour Party|Labour Party]] supported territorial compromise with a Jordanian-Palestinian state under [[Hashemite]] rule.

The abject defeat of Arab armies in 1967 led to an initial rejectionist attitude in some Arab circles, most notably the [[Khartoum Resolution]] a few months after the war, which stated there would be “no peace, recognition of, or negotiations” with Israel. However, this position eased over time, ultimately leading to an almost dogmatic Palestinian acceptance of the notion of a two-state solution which persisted until the rise of [[Hamas]] in the 2000s. The outcome of the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]] prompted a fundamental political rethink among the Palestinian leadership. It was realised that Israel's military strength and, crucially, its alliance with the United States made it unlikely that it could be defeated militarily. In December 1974, [[Yasser Arafat]]'s [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] (PLO), then regarded as a terrorist group by the Israeli government, declared that a bi-national state was the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The change in policy was met with considerable confusion, as it was official PLO policy to replace Israel with a secular and democratic state with a full right of return for all displaced Palestinians, including the Jews who were living in Palestine before 1948. This would effectively have ended Israel's Jewish majority and, by secularising the state, would have weakened its exclusive Jewish character. In short, a bi-national state on the PLO's terms would mean a very different kind of Israel or no Israel at all. This prospect was always strongly opposed by all sides in Israeli politics.

But while the Arab side was re-adjusting its position, the two-state solution was dealt a heavy blow as Israel (in the 1980s) and subsequently the powerful, semi-autonomous settlement movement (in the 1990s and thereafter), implemented the controversial policy of [[Israeli settlement|Jewish settlements]] in the territories, establishing "[[facts on the ground]]" while keeping open the question of the Palestinians' long-term fate.

As early as 1973, the prospect of a bi-national state was being used by prominent figures on the Israel left to warn against holding on to the territories. For example, [[Histadrut]] Secretary General I. Ben-Aharon warned in a March 1973 article for ''[[The Jerusalem Post]]'' that Israel could not have any real control over a bi-national state and that Israelis should be satisfied with a state already containing a sizable Arab minority in Israel proper. With the advent of the [[Oslo peace process]] in the 1990s, the two-state solution appeared to be the sole option on the table, the general understanding being that its implementation would require evacuation of the non-contiguous and isolated Jewish settlements. The idea of resolving the original conflict by establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in return for peace, while retaining the large settlement blocs contiguous to pre-1967 Israel, seemed to present a modicum of fairness. Although the initial reaction of the Palestinians and of the neighboring Arab states was not encouraging, after 1993 diplomatic pressure from the United States, Russia, European countries, and the United Nations served to begin the process of almost institutionalizing the concept of the two-state solution as the only decent approach to the problem.

The two-state solution has become a virtual dogma in Israeli–Palestinian official discussions: it was the basis of the [[Madrid Conference of 1991|Madrid Conference]] (1991), the [[Oslo Accords]] (1993), the [[Oslo II Accord|Interim agreement]] (1995), the [[Protocol Concerning the Redeployment in Hebron|Hebron Protocol]] (1997), the [[Wye River Memorandum]] (1998), and so-called "[[Road map for peace|Road Map]]" (2002). However, these agreements are rejected by various factions on the Palestinian side, most notably [[Hamas]], [[Palestinian Islamic Jihad]] and the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]]. The Oslo Accords were never fully adopted and implemented by both sides. After the [[Second Intifada]] in 2000, many believe that the two-state solution is increasingly losing its feasibility.

On the Israeli side, [[Likud]] and [[Labour Party (Israel)|Labour]] both opposed withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders or setting up a Palestinian state, and both supported building more Jewish settlements in the territories and maintaining exclusive Israeli control over Jerusalem. However, Labour argued for building strategic settlements only in areas Israel intended to keep, such as the [[Jordan Valley (Middle East)|Jordan Valley]] and the surroundings of [[East Jerusalem]], while handing the rest back to Jordan, claiming that the alternative would result in a bi-national state and so "the end of the Zionist endeavour". Many on the left of Israeli politics were already warning that without a clean separation from the Palestinians, the outcome would be either a bi-national state by default (thus ending Israel's Jewish character) or a South African-style "[[Bantustan]]" with a Jewish minority forcibly ruling a disenfranchised Arab majority (thus ending Israel's claims to be a [[democracy]]).

Despite this, opposition to bi-nationalism was not absolute. Some of those on the Israel right associated with the settler movement were willing to contemplate a bi-national state as long as it was established on Zionist terms. Originally, members of [[Menachem Begin]]'s [[Likud]] government in the late 1970s were willing to support the idea if it would ensure formal Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank and Gaza. Begin's chief of staff, [[Eliahu Ben-Elissar]], told ''[[The Washington Post]]'' in November 1979 that "we can live with them and they can live with us. I would prefer they were Israeli citizens, but I am not afraid of a bi-national state. In any case, it will always be a [[Jewish state]] with a large Arab minority."

The construction of the [[Israeli West Bank barrier]] after 2003, strongly opposed by the ideological part of the West Bank Jewish settler movement, was widely deemed as an attempt to not only curtail Palestinian [[suicide bombings]] but also to define where a future international border might run and eventually extricate Israel from most of the West Bank. This impression was reinforced by the [[Israel's unilateral disengagement plan]] implemented by Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] in the [[Gaza Strip]] and the northern [[West Bank]] in 2005, which was then widely regarded as the death knell of the trans-[[Israeli West Bank barrier|security barrier]] settlements. However, since such time, these settlements have continued to grow considerably, not as a result of Israeli government policy (which often opposed such growth) but rather as a result of the organizational and economic abilities of the powerful and highly motivated settlement movement. The majority of Israelis do not cross the security barrier into Palestinian-populated areas, and know little or nothing of these developments on the ground which could have a fateful influence on the future of Israel.

Among Palestinians, Israel's opposition to a bi-national state led to another change of position which evolved gradually from the late 1970s onwards. The PLO retained its original option of a single secular bi-national state west of Jordan, but began to take the position that it was prepared to accept a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza in land from which Israel had withdrawn under [[UN Security Council Resolution 242|Security Council Resolution 242]]. Israeli settlements would need to be dismantled and Palestinian refugees allowed to return (to Israel as well as the new Palestine). This new position, formally adopted in December 1988, was overwhelmingly rejected by Israeli public and the main political parties but was later used as the basis of peace discussions in the 1990s.

Various Israelis and Palestinians who oppose a one-state solution have come to believe that it may come to pass. Israeli Prime Minister Olmert argued, in a 2007 interview with the Israeli daily ''[[Haaretz]]'', that without a two-state agreement Israel would face "a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights" in which case "Israel [would be] finished".<ref>[https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/929439.html "Olmert to Haaretz: Two-state solution, or Israel is done for"], ''[[Haaretz]]'', Nov. 29, 2007.</ref> This echoes comments made in 2004 by Palestinian Prime Minister [[Ahmed Qurei]], who said that if Israel failed to conclude an agreement with the Palestinians, that the Palestinians would pursue a single, bi-national state.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3381493.stm |work=BBC News |title=Palestinian PM's 'one state' call |date=January 9, 2004 |access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref> Several other high-level [[Fatah]] Palestinian Authority officials have voiced similar opinions, including [[Hani Al-Masri]]. In 2004, [[Yasser Arafat]] said “time is running out for a two-state solution” in an interview with Britain's ''[[The Guardian]]'' newspaper. Many political analysts, including [[Omar Barghouti]], believe that the death of Arafat harbingers the bankruptcy of the [[Oslo Accords]] and the [[two-state solution]].

The prominent proponents for the one-state solution include [[Muammar al-Gaddafi]] of [[Libya]] (see also [[Saif Islam Qaddafi Isratin proposal#Saif al-Islam Gaddafi Isratin proposal|Saif Islam Qaddafi Isratin proposal]]),<ref name="Al Gathafi 2003" /><ref name="NYT">{{cite news |first=Muammar |last=Qadaffi |title=The One-State Solution |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/22/opinion/22qaddafi.html?ref=opinion |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2009-01-21 |page=A33 |access-date=22 January 2009 }}</ref> Palestinian author [[Ali Abunimah]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/store/548.shtml |title="One Country": A new book from EI cofounder Ali Abunimah |website=[[The Electronic Intifada]] |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091003020008/http://electronicintifada.net/bytopic/store/548.shtml |archive-date=October 3, 2009 }}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2025}}{{undue weight inline|date=January 2025}} Palestinian-American producer [[Jamal Dajani]], Palestinian lawyer [[Michael Tarazi]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.globalpolicy.org/nations/sovereign/sover/emerg/2004/1004onetwo.htm |title=Two Peoples, One State |author=Michael Tarazi |website=[[Global Policy Forum]] |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081020020059/http://www.globalpolicy.org///nations/sovereign/sover/emerg/2004/1004onetwo.htm |archive-date=October 20, 2008 }}</ref> [[Jeff Halper]], Israeli writer [[Dan Gavron]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=4693 |title=One state awakening |author=Peter Hirschberg |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20080307144349/http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?ItemID=4693 |archive-date=March 7, 2008 }}</ref> Israeli historian [[Ilan Pappé]], Palestinian-American law professor [[George Bisharat]],{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Lebanese-American academic [[Saree Makdisi]],<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-op-makdisi11-2008may11,0,7862060.story |work=Los Angeles Times |title=Forget the two-state solution |first=Saree |last=Makdisi |date=May 11, 2008 |access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref> and American academic [[Virginia Tilley]]. They cite the expansion of the Israeli Settler movement, especially in the West Bank, as a compelling rationale for bi-nationalism and the increased unfeasibility of the two-state alternative. They advocate a secular and democratic state while still maintaining a Jewish presence and culture in the region. They concede that this alternative will erode the dream of Jewish supremacy in terms of governance in the long run.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.arabnews.com/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106083946/http://www.arabnews.com/?page=7&section=0&article=117501&d=24&m=12&y=2008|url-status=dead|title=Arab News|archivedate=January 6, 2016|website=Arab News}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{See also|Demographics of Israel|Demographics of the State of Palestine}}

{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = Religion in proposed Isratin (2022)<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.globalissues.org/news/2022/10/13/32156 | title=Demography of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict | date=13 October 2022 }}</ref>
|label1 = [[Islam]]
|value1 = 50
|color1 = Green
|label2 = [[Judaism]]
|value2 = 48
|color2 = blue
|label3 = [[Christianity]]
|value3 = 1.5
|color3 = red
|label4 = Others 
|value4 = 0.5
|color4 = Gold 
}}

[[Israel]]’s population stood at 9.6 million, with 7.1 million, or 73.7 percent, being [[Jewish]] by faith. The [[State of Palestine]]’s population is estimated at slightly more than half the size of Israel’s, at approximately 5.3 million. Thus, combining the populations of [[Israel]] and [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]] yields a total population of 14.8 million. The [[Jewish]] proportion of that combined population turns out to be a minority of 48%, numbering roughly 7.1 million. The [[Muslim]] proportion stands at 50%, numbering 7.4 million, [[Christian]] proportion at 1.5%, numbering 222,000, and others (includes [[Druze]] and [[Atheists]]) numbering 78,000, comprising 0.5% of the population as of 2022 estimation.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://thehill.com/opinion/international/3697124-the-demographic-challenges-to-peace-for-israel-and-palestine/ | title=The demographic challenges to peace for Israel and Palestine | work=The Hill | date=20 October 2022 }}</ref>

== Criticisms ==
[[File:Israel-Palestine Diplomacy.svg|250px|thumb|right|The map shows the diplomatic recognition for both Israel and [[Palestine]].
{{legend|#000000|Israel and the Palestinian Territories}}
{{legend|#0052ff|Recognition of Israel only}}
{{legend|#cdcd9c|Recognition of both Israel and Palestinian State}}
{{legend|#FF4500|Recognition of Palestinian State only}}
{{legend|#e0e0e0|No recognition}}]]

The Isratin scenario is generally criticized by a majority of both [[Israelis]] and [[Palestinians]].{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

Critics on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute argue that such an entity would destroy the rights of both societies to [[self-determination]].{{citation needed|date=November 2014}}

Israeli Jews generally assume that a one-state scenario would negate Israel's status as a homeland for the Jewish people. When proposed as a political solution by non-Israelis (as distinct from gradually sliding into an Isratin situation by virtue of continuous Jewish West Bank settlement) the natural assumption is that the idea is most probably being put forward by those who are politically motivated to harm Israel.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://info.jpost.com/C004/QandA/qa.dershowitz.html |title=Q&A; with Alan Dershowitz |website=[[The Jerusalem Post]] |access-date=October 17, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527171746/http://info.jpost.com/C004/QandA/qa.dershowitz.html |archive-date=May 27, 2009 }}</ref>

Most Israelis, including Israeli Jews, Israeli [[Druze]], the majority of Israeli [[Bedouin]], many Israeli Christian Arabs and some Israeli Muslim Arabs, fear the consequences of amalgamation with a population that may carry a different culture, level of secularism and level of democracy. (Israeli Druze and Bedouin serve in the [[Israel Defense Forces|IDF]] and there are sometimes rifts between these groups and Palestinians.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/mar/17/israel |work=The Guardian |location=London |title=Tales of Tel Aviv |first=Linda |last=Grant |date=March 17, 2004 |access-date=May 5, 2010}}</ref>) Critics state that the existing level of rights and equality for all Israeli citizens would be put in jeopardy.<ref>[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3329865,00.html One-state solution a pipedream] [[Ynetnews]].</ref> Furthermore, residents of the large Israeli Arab population centers in [[Wadi Ara]] and the [[Triangle (Israel)|Triangle]], contiguous with the West Bank, have expressed fierce opposition to their areas being annexed to the Palestinian state within a land swap in the final status agreement and assumedly would respond similarly to an Isratin proposition under which they would by default be deemed to be more Palestinian than Israeli.

Students of the Middle East, including erstwhile critic of Israel [[Benny Morris]], have argued that the one-state solution is not viable because of Arab unwillingness to accept a Jewish national presence in the Middle East.<ref>Jeffrey Goldberg, [https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/books/review/Goldberg-t.html?_r=1&ref=books "No Common Ground,"] ''New York Times'', May 20, 2009</ref>

In a 2007 poll of 580 [[Israelis]], 70% of Israeli Jews stated that they support the [[two-state solution]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Poll: 70% of Israelis back 2-state pact, 63% oppose Golan pull-out|url=https://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=877751&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1|work=[[Haaretz]]|date=July 3, 2007|access-date=October 17, 2009|archive-date=May 12, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512104358/http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=877751&contrassID=1&subContrassID=1|url-status=dead}}</ref> A 2005 poll of 1,319 [[Palestinians]] indicated that a small majority of those in the West Bank and Gaza Strip support the two-state solution based on the 1967 borders.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.middleeasttransparent.com/old/texts/akiva_eldar_majority_palestinians_support_two_state_solution.htm|title=Poll: Majority of Palestinians now support two-state solution|publisher=Middle East Transparent|access-date=2009-10-17|archive-date=2011-07-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720030835/http://www.middleeasttransparent.com/old/texts/akiva_eldar_majority_palestinians_support_two_state_solution.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{colbegin}}
* [[Hannah Arendt]]
* [[Hugo Bergmann]]
* [[Ghada Karmi]]
* [[Multiculturalism]]
* [[Israel and the United Nations]]
* [[Palestine and the United Nations]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{reflist|2}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin|40em}}
* [[Ali Abunimah|Abunimah, Ali]], ''[[One Country, A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse]]'' New York: Metropolitan Books, 2006 {{ISBN|978-0-8050-8666-9}}
* "''Palestine – Divided or United? The Case for a Bi-National Palestine before the United Nations''" by [[M. Reiner]]; [[Herbert Samuel, 1st Viscount Samuel|Lord Samuel]]; [[Ernst Simon|E. Simon]]; [[M. Smilansky]]; [[Judah Leon Magnes]]. [[Ihud]] Jerusalem 1947. Includes submitted written and oral testimony before UNSCOP; IHud's Proposals include: political, immigration, land, development (Reprinted [[Greenwood Press]] Reprint, Westport, CT, 1983, {{ISBN|0-8371-2617-7}})
* [[Dershowitz, Alan|Alan Dershowitz]]. ''[[The Case for Peace]]: How the Arab-Israeli Conflict Can Be Resolved''. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2005.
* [[Hattis, Susan Lee]]. The Binational Idea in Palestine during Mandatory Times. [[Haifa]]: Shikmona, 1970.
* "''Begin Loyalist Given Inside Track for Dayan's Job''", ''Washington Post'', November 14, 1979
* "''[[The Population of Israel]]''", [[Friedlander D.]] and [[Goldscheider C.]], [[Hebrew University]], 1980
* "''Fifteen Years' Successful Conquest Has Wounded Israel's Soul''", ''Washington Post'', June 6, 1982
* "''Demography in the Land of Israel in the Year 2000''", [[Sofer A.]], the [[University of Haifa]], 1987
* [[Paul R. Mendes-Flohr]] ''[[A Land of Two Peoples: Martin Buber on Jews and Arabs]]''. [[Gloucester]], Mass: Peter Smith, 1994.
* [[Ruth Gavison]], "Jewish and Democratic? A Rejoinder to the 'Ethnic Democracy' Debate," ''[[Israel Studies]]'', March 31, 1999
* [[Dan Leon|Leon, Dan]]. ''[[Binationalism]]: A Bridge over the Chasm''. [[Palestine–Israel Journal]], July 31, 1999.
* [[Virginia Tilley|Tilley, Virginia]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=dUn701_Rkp4C ''The One-State Solution: A Breakthrough for Peace in the Israeli-Palestinian Deadlock''], [[University of Michigan]] Press, May 2005
* [[Edward Said|Said, E.]] ''The End of the Peace Process: Oslo and After'', Granta Books, London: 2000
* Pressman, Jeremy, [https://web.archive.org/web/20130218165504/http://bostonreview.net/BR34.4/pressman.php "The Best Hope – Still?"] ''Boston Review'', July/August 2009.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100216182953/http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1142622.html Settlers and Palestinians who prefer a bi-national state], ''[[Ha'aretz]]''. {{in lang|he}}
* [https://www.nli.org.il/en/articles/RAMBI990005672290705171/NLI Proposal for an Alternative Configuration in Palestine-Israel] by Alternative Palestinian Agenda.
* [https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2003/10/23/israel-the-alternative/ Israel: The Alternative] by [[Tony Judt]].
* [https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v25/n21/virginia-tilley/the-one-state-solution The One-State Solution] by [[Virginia Tilley]].
* [https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/one-state-solution/ The One-State Solution] by [[Daniel Lazare]].
* [http://www.americantaskforce.org/in_media/pr/2009/08/28/1251432000 What’s Wrong with the One-State Agenda?] by [[Hussein Ibish]].
* [https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3329865,00.html One-state solution a pipedream] by [[Ray Hanania]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20160110051927/http://www.realisticdove.org/archives/100 Why advocating a one-state solution does not help the Palestinians] by [[Dan Fleshler]].

{{Arab–Israeli conflict}}
{{Muammar Gaddafi}}

[[Category:One-state solution]]
[[Category:Israeli–Palestinian peace process]]
[[Category:Proposed political unions]]
[[Category:Israel–Libya relations]]
[[Category:Libya–Palestine relations]]
[[Category:Muammar Gaddafi]]