This is the New Yorker Radio Hour. I'm David Remnick.

Right now, much of the world's attention is focused on the Middle East.

On the horror of Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel,

and then the massive devastation of Israel's war on Gaza that has continued for 10 months.

There's also the potential for a wider war between Israel

and Iran's proxies, particularly Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Hutis in Yemen. But today

we are concentrating on one place on the West Bank. This was

part of Jordan until the 1967 war with Israel, and ever since Israel has

occupied the territory,

particularly since 2000, in what is known as the Second Intifada,

opportunities for compromise have either been lost or disdained

and the Israeli settlement project has expanded year

after year. Indeed the settlers and their supporters have come to dominate much

of the spirit of Israeli politics.

Even Benjamin Netanyahu's opponents, men like Benny Gantz,

dare not advocate directly for two states.

Particularly after October 7th, there's no real constituency for such a deal.

Indeed, the Knesset recently held a vote on such a plan, and as a show of ideological unity,

two states was voted down by a landslide.

This is our second of two episodes dealing with the occupation of the West Bank.

If you miss the first, it should be in your podcast feed right now. I've been speaking

with two particularly insightful thinkers on this situation. Roger Shehade, who is the author

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