S8 Ep485: Defining Israel's Deep Political and Demographic Divides. Peter Berkowitz clarifies crucial definitions in Israeli politics, explaining why a one-state solution would destroy Israel's democratic and Jewish character. He outlines how traditional left-right
The John Batchelor Show
John Batchelor
4.5 • 2.8K Ratings
🗓️ 20 February 2026
⏱️ 8 minutes
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Summary
Defining Israel's Deep Political and Demographic Divides. Peter Berkowitz clarifies crucial definitions in Israelipolitics, explaining why a one-state solution would destroy Israel's democratic and Jewish character. He outlines how traditional left-right divisions have morphed into pro- or anti-Netanyahu factions, heavily influenced by religious demographics and the ultra-Orthodox community's contentious role in military service. #10
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I'm John Betzer with my colleague Peter Berkowitz at the Hoover Institution. |
| 0:19.7 | His new book is Explaining Israel, a collection of his edited columns at Real Clear Politics over 10 years from |
| 0:27.0 | 2014. It's the first that I read here, 2024 at the end. There is more to say about |
| 0:33.6 | right now in 2026, but we're going to do some definitions that can be helpful to understand |
| 0:39.0 | going forward in the Middle East. Peter, there's some diads here, and I want to come to them |
| 0:45.7 | in chronological order for your book. What is a two-state versus a one-state solution? What does that |
| 0:53.3 | mean? Excuse me. The two-state solution. What does that mean? |
| 1:05.8 | Excuse me. The two-state solution refers to a hope, a hope that alongside Israel, a state can be created for Palestinians. Palestinians living in what some people call the West Bank, what is increasingly called |
| 1:12.3 | in Israel, Judean Samaria, the biblical names for this territory, and the Gaza Strip. Today, |
| 1:18.6 | roughly, roughly 3 million Palestinians live in Judean Samaria, roughly 2 million live in Gaza. Israel seized those territories as part of a |
| 1:31.6 | defensive war in 1967. Israel has made several efforts to reach a peace agreement with the Palestinians |
| 1:40.0 | that would create two states. All those have failed because the Palestinians have rejected them. |
| 1:46.7 | As a result, Israel now exercises ultimate military control over the West Bank and over Gaza as well. |
| 1:58.5 | This is a bad situation for Israel, if a necessary one, because Israel cannot indefinitely |
| 2:06.3 | maintain control over 5 million Palestinians. Well, let's say 3 million in the West Bank. |
| 2:13.9 | Gaza actually was a territory from which Israel exited in 2005. |
| 2:20.3 | Israel was drawn back in over the last two years. |
| 2:24.3 | One state solution is from my point of view, and I think from the point of view of a majority |
| 2:30.3 | Israelis, no solution as all. It would be a disaster. Why? Because it would involve |
| 2:37.0 | the incorporation of five million Palestinians into Israel. And then the Israelis have two choices. |
| 2:45.7 | They could make those five million Palestinians full citizens, which would mean Israel would cease to be a majority |
| 2:52.1 | Jewish state, or they could deny them citizenship. And then Israel would become an apartheid state. |
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