This is the New Yorker Radio Hour, a co-production of WNYC Studios and The New Yorker.

This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick. For so long, our hopes for peace in the Middle

East lay with a two-state solution, Israel and a Palestinian state recognizing one another's

right to exist with some kind of security guarantees in place. But nearly two years after the

October 7th attack, the two-state solution now seems like mere rhetoric, an illusion. The brutality of

that attack struck grief and horror into nearly every

Israeli, and it emboldened the most hard-line elements in the Israeli government. In Gaza,

tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed. Nearly every building there has been either

destroyed or damaged, and last week, Israel ordered the

evacuation of all of Gaza City. Where those Palestinians will go and live is unclear. Israel faces

accusations of war crimes and even genocide. And in the West Bank, Israel seems poised to annex

the territory entirely.

And it goes on and on.

The killing, the destruction, the displacement, the hostages, and so much more.

Looking back now, we have to wonder, was there ever a real chance for peace?

That's the subject of

tomorrow is yesterday. To my mind, an essential book, a book difficult to read, but full of hard

truths and no phony optimism. The authors are veterans of Middle East diplomacy. Hussein

Aga was a negotiator for the Palestinians, and he helped draft

a key document called a framework for a Palestinian national security doctrine. Robert Malley

was in the U.S. State Department, and he helped organize the Camp David Summit in 2000. Later, he was

the U.S. chief negotiator for the Iran nuclear deal under President Obama.

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