Israel’s Endgame Should Be a Fair Solution - Once Hamas Is Defeated

(by Omer Bialer, an Israeli startup founder; The opinions expressed are his alone)

My name is Omer Bialer. I am an Israeli, a Zionist, and a liberal. Growing up in Israel in the 1990s, I believed that we Israelis were the main obstacle to peace. I thought that if we simply gave the Palestinians land of their own, we could begin paving the way toward peace.

That was why I supported Israel’s unilateral withdrawal from Gaza in 2005. I believed in the equation "land = peace", and therefore I supported it - even though it was a traumatic experience for many Israelis. I thought the price would be worth paying if it led to peace.

Israeli soldiers evacuating Jewish Israelis from Gaza settlements in 2005. Credit: Avigail Uzi.

After the October 7th massacre, in which 1,163 people were murdered and 251 kidnapped - outright war crimes committed by Hamas - I was forced to re-examine my understanding of the conflict. How could it be that, nearly 20 years after Israel withdrew from Gaza and allowed the Palestinians to govern themselves, this was the outcome? Why had it not led to the peace I once imagined as a teenager?

As Experience Shows, Giving Land Is Not Enough

One thing I have come to realize is that achieving a peaceful resolution to the conflict is not only about Israel giving up land - it also requires a Palestinians leadership that’s willing to change. It means that their leadership will need to formally recognize Israel’s right to exist, both in words and in action.

I understand today that while there were Palestinians who at least publicly accepted the idea of dividing the land, too many of them, including Hamas, still dream of claiming the entire land - “from the river to the sea” - which would mean catastrophe for millions of Israelis.

This mindset has blocked multiple potential resolutions that were once on the table: The 1947 UN Partition Plan offered a two-state solution - we agreed, they refused; The Clinton-Barak-Arafat proposal offered 90% of the West Bank, all of Gaza, and additional territory in a land swap, and again - we agreed, they refused, as President Clinton himself has recently confirmed; Eventually, we withdrew from Gaza without asking for anything in return. In 2005, Israel handed over the entire Gaza Strip - yet reality showed us that instead of focusing on building their own state, Hamas remained fixated on dismantling ours.

President Clinton, Prime Minister Barak, and PA Chairman Arafat.

The Blind Spot I Had as a Teenager Is Now the West’s Blind Spot

Just as I once failed to recognize the Palestinian leadership’s constant refusal to accept the legitimacy of our state, many people in the West fail to see it as well. There remains a widespread belief, despite mounting evidence showing otherwise, that if only Israel gives up land, the conflict will be solved with a two-state solution.

While there is a moral argument for ending Israel’s control over the Palestinians - “occupation corrupts,” as many say - Israelis also know from experience that morality alone does not guarantee security.

The fact that ending this control in the West Bank might be moral in principle does not mean it is the right step to take in practice, especially when the alternative is ceding authority to a leadership such as Hamas, which refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist, openly supports violence against civilians, carried out the October 7 massacre - and would like to carry it out again. For many Israelis, that makes the step not only uncertain, but profoundly dangerous.

This is why I strongly criticize figures like Greta Thunberg. When she chants “From the river to the sea,” she reinforces the belief that compromise is unnecessary and that, if they simply persist, they will one day gain the entire land. When I hear those words, I hear a call to drive me and my family out of our homes, and obviously I cannot accept that.

An anti-Israel protest. When I hear those words, I hear a call to drive me and my family out of our homes.

Some Might Say I’m Delusional

Some people in Israel will say that I’m delusional to believe the Palestinians could ever recognize Israel’s legitimacy to exist, and that any creation of a Palestinian state would, in effect, establish a terror state that would further endanger Israel.

I understand that criticism, but I view it differently. Rather than assuming the Palestinians will never change and therefore not expecting any change from their society and leadership, I want to give them the opportunity and responsibility to prove that they can change. I see the Palestinians as human beings with responsibility and agency, and I expect them to act on it.

My aim is to create a new equation, based on mutual recognition. An equation that does not say, “you will never get a state under any circumstances,” but instead says, “if you acknowledge our country’s right to exist, we will acknowledge yours.”

A Fair Solution is in Our Own Interest

A recent UN General Assembly vote on implementing a two-state solution was supported by 142 states, rejected by 10, and saw 12 abstentions. This leads me to believe that time is running out. If we do not clearly state our conditions - derived from our security concerns and the lessons we learned the hard way - for the establishment of a Palestinian state, we may find ourselves with one being imposed upon us, without any Palestinian recognition of our legitimacy in return.

"Two peoples living on this land, and neither is going to magically disappear. Peace will not come simply because Israel gives up land."

I used to think that finding a fair solution to the conflict was simply “the right thing to do.” Today, I believe it is in our own security interest to do so - if we want to repair our global reputation, preserve our Western alliances, maintain the Abraham Accords with our existing partners, and potentially build new ones - on top of the moral imperative of us as liberals, to pursue peace and justice.

The conditions toward a sustainable solution

I believe that a safe and peaceful future for both peoples depends on clear conditions being met by each side.

For the Palestinians:

• Release all hostages. There are still 48 hostages being held in Gaza by Hamas, for over 700 days. Their freedom must be the first step.

• Formally acknowledge Israel’s right to exist. A public acknowledgment that Israel, as a democratic nation-state for the Jewish people, is a legitimate country with a right to exist is essential.

• Renounce all acts of terror. This means dismantling the PLO mechanism that finances terrorists who have killed Israelis, ending all incentives for terror attacks, and publicly denouncing such attacks.

• Dismantle Hamas. Hamas must relinquish its weapons and its rule over Gaza. A new leadership must be rebuilt - one capable of meeting these conditions - since we know by now that Hamas will never recognize Israel in any form. This is a complex requirement, because Hamas refuses to give up its weapons or control in Gaza, which means dismantling it might not be possible without war.

• Social reconstruction. Far too many institutions in the Palestinian society, including schools and mosques, are used to fuel hatred against Israelis and Jews; such institutions must be either replaced or significantly changed so that they promote coexistence.

On our end, here are several imperatives that we must uphold:

• Vocally support a two-state solution, provided the above conditions are met. The Israeli government should state clearly that if and only if these conditions are fulfilled, Israel is open to a two-state solution. Meeting these conditions is critical, because without them, simply giving land will never be sufficient to end the conflict.

• Join the global discourse on the two-state solution and make the above conditions part of it. It is important to ensure the world will know that Israel also seeks to resolve the conflict - but only in a way that does not jeopardize its own safety. The international community must recognize that simply giving land will not be enough to end the conflict; certain conditions must also be met on the Palestinian side.

• Address objections at home. The public must be engaged in an honest discussion about the consequences of rejecting a two-state solution under any circumstances. This includes the potential impact on our alliances with the West, the future of the Abraham Accords, and our relationship with the United States. We must also recognize that we are losing the support of younger generations in the West - and will continue to lose them if we do not pursue a fair solution. In addition, arms deals and our long-term military strength could be jeopardized if Israel is left without meaningful alliances. All of these factors are at stake, and the Israeli public should be fully aware of them when considering a path forward.

So to sum up: I do believe a peaceful future is possible, but I am no longer naive about the steps required to achieve it. To move toward that future, we must first acknowledge reality: there are two peoples living on this land, and neither is going to magically disappear. Peace will not come simply because Israel gives up land. The world must also recognize that it is equally the Palestinians’ responsibility to develop leadership that accepts Israel’s presence here and to abandon the idea of a single state “from the river to the sea.” As a first step toward that future, the world must understand this - just as we Israelis must understand it ourselves.