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RECOGNIZING PALESTINE: WHAT ISRAELI LEADERS SHOULD TELL ISRAELIS, IF
THEY HAD THE GUTS  
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Dahlia Scheindlin
September 25, 2025
Haaretz
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_ In lockstep with Netanyahu, opposition leaders lined up to condemn
Israel's closest allies who recognized the State of Palestine. If they
had the guts, they'd tell the truth: that death, destruction and
'Super Sparta' need not be their fate. _

The leaders of the opposition in the Knesset, from left: Yair Golan,
Benny Gantz, Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman, Credit: Photos: Itay
Ron/Moti Milrod/Tomer Appelbaum/Oren Ben Hakoon/Hussein
Kassir/Shutterstock.com; Artwork: Anastasia Shub

 

As some of Israel's closest allies declared they were recognizing the
State of Palestine this week at the United Nations General Assembly, a
string of Israeli opposition leaders lined up dutifully, in lockstep
with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to condemn them.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid
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government, calling the recognitions by the U.K., Canada and Australia
a "diplomatic disaster, a terrible move and a prize for terror." He
also went UN-bashing ahead of the recognitions, telling Fox News he
supports
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secession of democratic countries from the global body to form a new
club of democracies only (sounding so confident of Israel's
credentials to join this circle).

Israel's furthest left Zionist opposition leader Yair Golan called
the recognitions 
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destructive move for Israel's security," while nodding to a future
demilitarized Palestinian state." Benny Gantz
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Lieberman
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cue: recognition is good for Hamas, supports Iran, panders to the
publics of those countries recognizing Palestine. Of the opposition,
only Ayman Odeh, the Arab leader of Hadash supported the declarations.

Whether due to ideology or calculations, not a single Israeli
Jewish-Zionist leader is offering the Israeli public a fundamentally
different vision for the future of Israel. This isn't a call for them
to be contrarian just for the sake of it; rather, they are failing to
make the case for Israel supporting a Palestinian state – a case
that is no less plausible, compelling and evidence-driven than the
arguments for Israeli rejectionism.

The opposition won't do it, so it's left to us citizens. Here's what a
real Israeli leader would say:

"Israeli citizens, in these grave times, it is all too easy to see the
recognitions of Palestinian statehood as a harbinger of dark
diplomatic isolation, a reward for violence
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terror that will encourage Palestinians to use violence in the future
to achieve their aims.

"That is what you have been told – by your political leadership,
your political opposition, and your media.

"I am here to tell you that they are wrong. You have been misled. This
development offers a historic opportunity, if we drop the cheap
political exploitation and look at what's actually driving our allies'
actions. Their motives are nothing like what you've been told.

"'The world is always against us' – have we stopped to ask if this
is true? Over 20 years after the BDS movement began calling for
boycotts against Israel, the EU remains Israel's biggest trading
partner
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The current proposed EU sanctions arrived only after two years of the
bloodbath in Gaza made their position totally untenable. But why are
we so upset they want to stop the killing? Even you, the Israeli
public, believe the war must end
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hostages home and our soldiers back from Gaza.

"The countries that recognized Palestine are among Israel's best
friends. Do they want a two-state solution because they hate Israel?
The opposite. They are waiting to love Israel again, when the war is
over and Israel's frenzied annexationist rampage stops.

"The declarations are like waving a great big flag to Israel with the
message: Follow this path to end your pariah status so we can get back
to business!

"What is that path? Behind the recognitions lie the New York
Declaration
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which the UN General Assembly adopted earlier this month
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two-state solution. Israeli leaders are telling you this was terrible
for Israel too.

"But the New York plan condemns Hamas, October 7 and terror, and
demands the release of all the hostages. It calls for the disarmament
and demobilization of Hamas, which should 'end its rule in Gaza and
hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority,' and says the PA
does not intend to become a militarized state. The declaration
proposes a 'temporary international stabilization mission,' and the
signatory countries are ready to put their own troops into this
disaster zone to help get it done.

"That policy worked in Kosovo; it would prevent Israel from its
current hellish trajectory of controlling 2 million people in Gaza
forever. Fellow citizens – Israel ruling Gaza is a disaster for
Gazans, and it is a death sentence for your future.

"Only a religious fundamentalist could want this, because for the
fundamentalist no price, no sacrifice of hostage nor soldier, is too
high. It's the same logic driving the insatiable annexation appetite
in the West Bank – your children's lives in exchange for their
rapture.

"The plan calls to revise the 1994 Paris Protocol, the economic
arrangement from the Oslo years, so Palestine can have a proper
economy. Haven't we Israelis wished for Gaza to be a 'Singapore by the
sea?' It calls for the revision of Palestinian school textbooks,
something Israeli Jews desperately want. All those countries you've
been told hate Israel want many of the same things _you _want for
Israel.

"Finally, recognizing Palestine is not a reward to terror; it is a
death blow to Hamas, whose greatest wish was that October 7 would
rally all the region's forces to destroy Israel and what was left
would become a pariah state. Instead, French President Emmanuel
Macron
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his speech to the UN on Monday said, "The time has come for the
existence of the State of Israel to never be questioned anywhere..."

"The ripeness – even eagerness – of the Arab world for full
normalization means Israel will be more globally embraced than ever
before, in the Middle East and Europe. It stands to revive the dying
bipartisan consensus in the United States as well.

"This path will put 'From the River to the Sea' slogans, and Israel's
ubiquitous Greater Israel maps, to rest.

"Fellow citizens, let's be clear: The path toward a Palestinian state
for a two-state peace will not be easy; violence will not vanish
overnight. I understand why it feels both unjust and frightening after
October 7: If they did that without a state, how much worse will it be
if they have one?

"Nobody wants to tell you this, but the reality is the opposite.
Iran's proxies thrive where states are weak, chaotic or don't (yet)
exist: Iraq, Yemen, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine. A state means that the
government has a monopoly over the use of force, and a great deal more
to lose by using it against Israel.

"You're right, it's tragic that this potential breakthrough had to
follow the worst Israeli-Palestinian violence in history. Palestinian
leaders, as well as Israel's, have had a hand in the failure of
negotiations, but both Israel and the international community should
have rewarded Palestinians earlier for exhaustive diplomatic, legal
and nonviolent activism, instead of letting the occupation fester and
spread.

"Apparently, those who ignore diplomatic efforts for freedom will be
condemned to reward violent ones later.

"The Palestinian state will be far from perfect. There will be
lingering violence, which is also a risk. But for all those years, the
far more deadly risk was failing to end this conflict. And we have
seen the result: Every Israeli has paid the price, and it would be mad
to go back for more.

"Israel does not have to be 'Super Sparta
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Israelis don't have to hear names of the dead 'cleared for
publication' over morning coffee or watch videos of skeletal hostages
digging their own graves.

"This is not your fate, nor is it your children's fate. One day we can
stop dreading the question 'How are you?' And instead of saying
'_Shana tova_ – even though it's unlikely,' we can just say '_Shana
tova_,' and 'may you be inscribed in the book of life.'"

_Dr. Dahlia Scheindlin
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is a public opinion researcher and a political advisor who has worked
on nine national campaigns in Israel and in 15 other countries. She is
currently a policy fellow at The Century Foundation, and she has
co-hosted the Election Overdose podcast at Haaretz. She is the author
of The Crooked Timber of Democracy in Israel: Promise Unfulfilled,
published in September 2023. Twitter: @dahliasc
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_Haaretz
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is an independent daily newspaper with a broadly liberal outlook both
on domestic issues and on international affairs. It has a journalistic
staff of some 330 reporters, writers and editors. The paper is perhaps
best known for its Op-ed page, where its senior columnists - among
them some of Israel's leading commentators and analysts - reflect on
current events. Haaretz plays an important role in the shaping of
public opinion and is read with care in government and decision-making
circles. Get a digital subscription [[link removed]]
to Haaretz._

* Israel
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* Palestine
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* Two-state Solution
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* Benjamin Netanyahu
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* State of Palestine
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