One-State, Two-State, and Confederation Models
One-State, Two-State, and Confederation Models
The future political relationship between Israelis and Palestinians has generated competing proposals ranging from two fully sovereign states to a single democratic state, federation, confederation, and various hybrid arrangements. The traditional diplomatic framework has emphasized an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, but settlement expansion, territorial integration, political fragmentation, security concerns, and the prolonged failure of negotiations have produced growing debate over whether conventional partition remains achievable. The literature also demonstrates that the disagreement is not simply between one state and two states. A substantial body of analysis considers arrangements that combine national self-determination with shared institutions, residency rights, freedom of movement, economic integration, or confederal government.
The Two-State Solution
The two-state model seeks an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, generally based on the territories occupied in 1967 with negotiated modifications. Major questions include borders, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees, security arrangements, economic relations, and the degree of sovereignty exercised by the Palestinian state.
Supporters argue that two states remain the clearest way to accommodate both Israeli and Palestinian national aspirations. They maintain that the failures of the Oslo peace process do not necessarily invalidate territorial partition itself. Revised proposals therefore emphasize stronger international guarantees, Palestinian institutional development, regional participation, reconstruction, security arrangements, and diplomatic recognition of Palestinian statehood.
Critics question whether the physical and political foundations necessary for meaningful partition still exist. Settlement growth, Israeli infrastructure in the West Bank, fragmented Palestinian territory, competing Palestinian governments, and opposition to Palestinian sovereignty have all complicated implementation. Some analyses consequently distinguish between genuine Palestinian statehood and arrangements that provide territorial separation without effective sovereignty.
One-State and Binational Models
One-state proposals replace territorial partition with a political system encompassing Israelis and Palestinians within a common state or political framework. Democratic versions emphasize equal citizenship and political rights regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or religion. Binational approaches may additionally recognize Israelis and Palestinians as distinct national communities entitled to collective rights and political representation.
Advocates increasingly connect these proposals to the concept of an existing "one-state reality." From this perspective, Israel, the West Bank, and in important respects Gaza cannot realistically be understood as separate political spaces progressing toward partition. Settlement networks, infrastructure, economic relationships, security control, and administrative arrangements have created extensive territorial integration.
A rights-based approach therefore asks what political and civil rights people living within this shared space should possess before determining its ultimate constitutional structure. Under this argument, equality might eventually be institutionalized through a democratic state, binational system, federation, confederation, or even two closely connected states.
Opponents of a single-state solution question whether one political system could reconcile competing national identities, security concerns, demographic anxieties, historical grievances, and incompatible understandings of national self-determination.
Confederation and Two States in One Homeland
Confederation attempts to bridge the divide between partition and a unitary state. Rather than creating two states separated by a rigid political and physical boundary, confederal proposals generally envision sovereign Israeli and Palestinian states connected through shared institutions and varying degrees of integration.
Models commonly associated with "Two States One Homeland" or similar concepts may include reciprocal residency rights, freedom of movement, economic cooperation, an open or jointly administered Jerusalem, coordinated security arrangements, and common institutions addressing issues that cannot easily be divided territorially.
Supporters argue that confederation acknowledges two realities simultaneously: Israelis and Palestinians have distinct national identities and aspirations for self-determination, but their populations, economies, infrastructure, religious sites, natural resources, and territories are deeply interconnected. Confederation therefore seeks to preserve national sovereignty without requiring complete physical separation.
Critics argue that confederation does not automatically resolve the fundamental disputes that undermined previous negotiations. Settlements, refugees, sovereignty, borders, security, Jerusalem, unequal power, and occupation would still require political agreements. Palestinian critics have additionally warned that preserving settlements through cross-border residency arrangements could institutionalize existing inequalities unless occupation and unequal political rights are addressed first.
Federation and Regional Alternatives
Federal models envision political authority divided between a common government and Israeli and Palestinian constituent units. Unlike a loose confederation of sovereign states, a federation would generally establish stronger central institutions while constitutionally protecting regional or national autonomy.
Other proposals extend beyond Israel and Palestine. Historical discussions have included Palestinian-Jordanian federation or confederation, territorial exchanges involving neighboring countries, and broader regional arrangements. Jordanian political concerns have made many such proposals particularly controversial because they can be interpreted as attempts to substitute Jordan for an independent Palestinian state.
Comparative studies of federations and confederations elsewhere suggest that constitutional design alone cannot overcome profound political asymmetry. Effective federal or confederal systems require agreements over sovereignty, political institutions, security, resources, citizenship, national identity, and mechanisms for resolving disputes.
Why Partition May Be Failing
A recurring argument in the literature is that the greatest threat to the conventional two-state solution is not the absence of diplomatic endorsement but changes on the ground. Israeli settlement expansion, annexation pressures, transportation networks, administrative integration, and the fragmentation of Palestinian territory have progressively complicated the geography required for a viable Palestinian state.
The Oslo process is consequently subject to sharply different interpretations. Some analysts maintain that Oslo failed while two states remain viable. Others contend that the structure of the peace process itself allowed territorial conditions to deteriorate while international diplomacy continued formally endorsing partition.
This distinction is important because international declarations supporting two states do not necessarily establish the political, territorial, institutional, or security conditions necessary to implement them.
Sovereignty, Recognition, and Palestinian Statehood
International recognition of Palestine has become an important component of renewed efforts to preserve or revive the two-state framework. Supporters view recognition as a means of transforming Palestinian statehood from an indefinite negotiating objective into a political and diplomatic reality.
Critics argue that recognition alone cannot create sovereignty. A state requires viable territory, functioning institutions, economic capacity, political authority, security arrangements, and meaningful control over its affairs. Recognition without addressing occupation, settlements, territorial fragmentation, and restrictions on Palestinian authority may therefore produce nominal rather than effective statehood.
The debate illustrates a broader distinction between the diplomatic recognition of Palestine and the practical construction of a viable Palestinian state.
Security and Political Viability
Security is central to arguments both for and against the competing models. Two-state proposals must determine how Palestinian security forces, Israeli security requirements, borders, international guarantees, and cross-border threats would be managed. Proposals for a demilitarized Palestinian state seek to address Israeli concerns but raise questions about the meaning of sovereignty when a state possesses limited security autonomy.
One-state and confederal models face different security problems. Greater integration could theoretically reduce the need for hardened borders, but it would require unprecedented levels of political trust and institutional cooperation.
Economic viability is similarly important. Israelis and Palestinians already share infrastructure, labor markets, trade relationships, natural resources, and geographic space. Some advocates of confederation regard this interdependence as an argument for integration rather than separation, while supporters of two states contend that cooperation can occur between independent sovereign countries.
Public Opinion and Political Feasibility
Polling and focus-group research indicates substantial skepticism toward all major political models. Support for two states has declined among both Israelis and Palestinians during periods of violence, political polarization, settlement expansion, and failed diplomacy. Yet alternative models have generally not developed overwhelming public support either.
Surveys have examined attitudes toward two states, democratic one-state arrangements, confederation, annexation, continuation of the status quo, and regional alternatives. Results vary according to wording, political conditions, security developments, and the specific institutional characteristics presented to respondents.
This creates a central problem for peace proposals: theoretical constitutional feasibility does not necessarily translate into political feasibility. Any settlement must address not only institutional design but also public legitimacy, leadership, security fears, historical narratives, and deeply entrenched distrust.
Equality Before Constitutional Form
A significant strand of contemporary analysis challenges the assumption that policymakers must first choose between one state and two states. Instead, it proposes beginning with principles such as political equality, civil rights, freedom, security, and national self-determination.
Under this approach, constitutional structure becomes a secondary question. Israelis and Palestinians might ultimately choose a democratic state, two sovereign states, federation, confederation, or another hybrid arrangement, provided that the resulting system protects fundamental rights and does not institutionalize permanent political inequality.
This perspective reflects growing concern that arguments over constitutional labels can obscure conditions experienced by people on the ground. It also provides conceptual space for hybrid models that do not fit neatly within the traditional one-state/two-state binary.
Historical and Post-Oslo Perspectives
The debate between partition and shared political structures predates the contemporary peace process. Historical proposals have included binational government, territorial partition, Palestinian statehood, Palestinian-Jordanian arrangements, and regional federations.
The Oslo era elevated negotiated territorial partition to the dominant international framework. However, unresolved permanent-status questions—including Jerusalem, borders, settlements, refugees, security, and sovereignty—remained at the center of the conflict.
The prolonged inability to resolve those questions has reopened debate over alternatives. Post-Oslo analysis increasingly examines whether Palestinian political strategy should continue prioritizing independent statehood, shift toward equal rights within a shared political space, pursue confederation, or combine elements of these approaches.
Regional and International Dimensions
The choice among political models is also shaped by neighboring Arab states, international institutions, and major powers. Jordan has particularly strong interests in preventing political arrangements that transfer responsibility for Palestinian statehood to Jordan or destabilize the kingdom.
International diplomacy continues to emphasize two states, Palestinian recognition, regional normalization, reconstruction, and security guarantees. At the same time, analysts increasingly question whether international endorsement of a model can preserve it when political and territorial developments move in another direction.
Regional economic cooperation and diplomatic integration could potentially support either two independent states or more interconnected confederal arrangements. Conversely, regional instability and continued warfare make implementation of any model considerably more difficult.
Conclusion
The Israeli-Palestinian political debate can no longer be reduced easily to a choice between a conventional two-state settlement and a single unitary state. The available literature describes a spectrum ranging from strict territorial partition to democratic one-state government, binationalism, federation, confederation, two states with open borders, and broader regional arrangements.
Each model attempts to balance several objectives that are difficult to reconcile: Israeli and Palestinian national self-determination, individual equality, Palestinian sovereignty, Israeli security, refugee claims, settlements, Jerusalem, economic interdependence, and territorial realities.
The two-state solution retains extensive international support, but its practical feasibility is increasingly contested. One-state proposals respond to territorial integration by emphasizing equality within a common political space, but face major questions about national identity and political acceptance. Confederation seeks a middle course by combining two sovereign states with shared institutions and cross-border rights, although it cannot by itself eliminate the underlying disputes.
The central issue may therefore be broader than the number of states. Across many competing approaches, the fundamental questions concern sovereignty, security, national identity, political equality, territorial control, and the rights of Israelis and Palestinians. Whether those principles are ultimately expressed through one state, two states, confederation, federation, or another arrangement remains one of the defining unresolved questions of the conflict.
Comparative Models: One State, Two States, Confederation, and Alternatives
| Gönül Tol | Middle East Institute | February 4, 2026
Examines whether the two-state framework remains viable after the Gaza war and considers democratic, rights-based alternatives if partition can no longer be achieved.
| Foreign Policy | Foreign Policy | October 6, 2025
Reconsiders the assumptions underlying decades of American-led peace diplomacy and the continued reliance on partition after Oslo's failures.
| Chatham House | Chatham House | 2024
Includes discussion of a "two states, one homeland" approach permitting national self-determination while maintaining links across the entire territory.
| Jon Alterman and Rula Hardal | Center for Strategic and International Studies | November 28, 2023
Discusses A Land for All and its attempt to develop an advanced two-state/confederal model that moves beyond rigid territorial separation.
| Foreign Affairs Editors | Foreign Affairs | August 22, 2023
Reviews scholarship arguing that policymakers must analyze Israel-Palestine as an existing single political space rather than assume eventual partition.
| Arab Center Washington DC | Arab Center Washington DC | February 1, 2023
Introduces arguments that a one-state reality already exists and that political analysis should therefore reconsider sovereignty, partition, and alternative structures.
| Daniel Egel et al. | RAND Corporation | February 10, 2021
Evaluates Israeli and Palestinian attitudes toward five possible futures, including the status quo, two states, one state, confederation, and annexation.
| Kobi Michael and Gabi Siboni et al. | Institute for National Security Studies | 2021
Compares several possible political arrangements, including two states, a unitary state, a federal state, and an Israeli-Palestinian confederation.
| Daniel Egel et al. | RAND Corporation | 2021
Provides the full RAND study comparing the political acceptability and perceived benefits and drawbacks of competing Israeli-Palestinian political arrangements.
| INSS Researchers | Institute for National Security Studies | 2021
Compares political models according to governance, security, national identity, freedom of movement, economic relations, and prospects for implementation.
| INSS Researchers | Institute for National Security Studies | 2021
Presents an extensive examination of one-state, federal, confederal, and two-state possibilities and their implications for Israelis and Palestinians.
| Brookings Institution | Brookings Institution | 2020
Summarizes discussions comparing three possible frameworks for the Palestinian national project: two states, one state, and confederation.
| Udi Dekel | Institute for National Security Studies | 2020
Surveys potential outcomes including two states, a democratic single state, unequal single-state arrangements, federation, confederation, and continued separation.
| Nathan J. Brown et al. | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | 2019
Reassesses the conventional two-state paradigm against one-state and confederal alternatives as political and territorial conditions change.
| Haggai Matar | +972 Magazine | January 29, 2018
Argues that equality and Palestinian rights should precede debates about whether the ultimate institutional arrangement involves one state or two.
| Amal Ahmad and Asem Khalil | Al-Shabaka | May 30, 2017
Argues that analysis should extend beyond the conventional one-state versus two-state binary to consider failed-state and no-state outcomes.
| Noam Sheizaf | +972 Magazine | February 16, 2017
Uses Donald Trump's early willingness to discuss either one or two states to examine how existing realities complicate the traditional diplomatic framework.
| Haidar Eid et al. | Al-Shabaka | February 1, 2016
Discusses a rights-centered Palestinian strategy in which political rights could eventually be realized through one state, two states, or confederation.
| Noam Sheizaf | +972 Magazine | March 17, 2015
Explores Palestinian political thinking inside Israel and predictions that conventional one-state and two-state formulas may eventually give way to hybrid arrangements.
| Noam Sheizaf | +972 Magazine | June 5, 2012
Examines why the costs and risks associated with both one-state and two-state outcomes can encourage Israeli governments to preserve the status quo.
Confederation, Federation, and Two States in One Homeland
| Yossi Beilin | Britain Palestine Project | February 9, 2026
Presents the case for an Israeli-Palestinian confederation that combines two sovereign states with reciprocal residency and shared institutions.
| Yossi Beilin, Hiba Husseini and Chatham House | Chatham House | September 4, 2025
Discusses the Holy Land Confederation proposal as a possible mechanism for achieving Palestinian and Israeli self-determination within a cooperative framework.
| Sam Bahour and Dahlia Scheindlin | The Century Foundation | May 27, 2025
Examines economic interdependence and argues that hybrid arrangements such as confederation may better accommodate shared infrastructure and resources.
| Dahlia Scheindlin | The Century Foundation | January 27, 2025
Makes a detailed case for two sovereign states joined in a confederation with freedom of movement, residency rights, and shared institutions.
| Daniel Levin | The Guardian / related confederation debate | February 7, 2024
Advocates two independent states joined through freedom of movement, employment, residency, economic coordination, and phased integration.
| Daniel Levin | The Guardian | February 7, 2024
Argues that a confederation can combine the national self-rule of two states with some of the integration and mobility associated with a single state.
| Foundation for Middle East Peace | FMEP | 2023
Collects resources and discussions addressing post-Oslo political possibilities, including one state, two states, and Israeli-Palestinian confederation.
| Dahlia Scheindlin and Dov Waxman | Foreign Policy | May 23, 2022
Argues that confederation could reconcile Israeli and Palestinian national self-determination with the populations' geographic and economic interdependence.
| Shira Efron and Evan Gottesman | +972 Magazine | May 3, 2021
Critiques confederation proposals and examines whether they genuinely overcome the same political obstacles that have blocked both one- and two-state solutions.
| Arianna Skibell | +972 Magazine | April 16, 2021
Examines growing interest in confederation among American Jewish organizations traditionally committed to a conventional two-state outcome.
| Omar H. Rahman | Brookings Institution | December 2020
Develops a "state-plus" confederal framework based on two sovereign states with recognized borders plus shared institutions and cross-border rights.
| Dahlia Scheindlin | The Century Foundation | February 3, 2020
Proposes two sovereign states connected by porous borders, residency rights, shared Jerusalem arrangements, and cooperative institutions.
| Sam Bahour | +972 Magazine | July 2, 2019
Presents a Palestinian critique arguing that some confederation models inadequately address occupation, settlements, refugee rights, and structural inequality.
| +972 Magazine | +972 Magazine | June 14, 2019
Explores confederation as an alternative version of two states that does not require complete physical separation of Israelis and Palestinians.
| Michael Koplow | Israel Policy Forum | September 6, 2018
Analyzes proposals for Palestinian-Jordanian or broader regional confederations and the political obstacles facing them.
| Meron Rapoport | +972 Magazine | July 18, 2018
Describes a two-state, one-homeland vision featuring an open Jerusalem, cross-border residency, and greater freedom of movement.
| Dahlia Scheindlin | Foreign Policy | June 29, 2018
Presents confederation as an alternative to both rigid partition and a conventional single state, incorporating elements attractive to each national movement.
| Michael Koplow | Israel Policy Forum | June 24, 2016
Discusses an arrangement involving two sovereign states, open borders, free movement, and a shared Jerusalem.
| Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man | +972 Magazine | June 19, 2016
Examines the Two States One Homeland proposal while raising questions about sovereignty, settlements, residency, refugees, and unequal power.
| Giora Eiland | Washington Institute for Near East Policy | 2008
Examines alternatives to the conventional two-state model, including a Jordanian-Palestinian federation or confederation and broader regional territorial arrangements.
The Two-State Solution: Arguments, Problems, and Prospects
| Foreign Policy | Foreign Policy | September 22, 2025
Examines renewed international efforts to place Palestinian statehood and the two-state solution at the center of diplomacy.
| John Haltiwanger | Foreign Policy | July 31, 2025
Covers international attempts to revive the two-state framework through recognition of Palestine and multilateral diplomacy.
| Multiple Authors | Middle East Journal | 2025
Defends the two-state framework as the most practical route for reconciling Israeli and Palestinian national aspirations while discussing possible alternatives.
| Ehud Olmert and Nasser al-Kidwa | Foreign Affairs | September 19, 2024
Argues that a negotiated two-state arrangement remains achievable and outlines principles for borders, Jerusalem, security, and Palestinian sovereignty.
| Martin Indyk | Foreign Affairs | February 20, 2024
Explains why the Gaza war returned Palestinian statehood to the diplomatic agenda despite years in which the two-state formula appeared increasingly moribund.
| Anchal Vohra | Foreign Policy | February 15, 2024
Examines proposals for a demilitarized Palestinian state and questions whether sovereignty without meaningful security autonomy would be sustainable.
| Sumantra Maitra | Foreign Policy | February 5, 2024
Criticizes partition and warns that implementing a hard territorial division could produce extensive displacement and communal violence.
| Jon B. Alterman | Center for Strategic and International Studies | January 10, 2024
Proposes rethinking how Palestinian sovereignty, Israeli security, international guarantees, and regional involvement might fit into a revised two-state framework.
| Anthony H. Cordesman | Center for Strategic and International Studies | October 11, 2023
Examines how the October 2023 war further weakened already limited prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian territorial settlement.
| Khaled Elgindy | Middle East Institute | September 13, 2023
Reviews thirty years of Oslo and the growing distance between diplomatic commitments to two states and political conditions on the ground.
| Peter Beinart | Foreign Policy | December 31, 2021
Examines the declining credibility of partition among liberal Zionists and debates over whether a different political framework is needed.
| Multiple Authors | Foreign Affairs | August 24, 2021
Presents competing expert assessments of whether territorial partition remains possible and preferable.
| Anthony H. Cordesman | Center for Strategic and International Studies | May 26, 2021
Argues that nominal statehood alone cannot solve the conflict without viable governance, security, economics, and institutional capacity.
| Dahlia Scheindlin | Foreign Policy | August 7, 2020
Distinguishes the failure of the Oslo process from the viability of the underlying principle of two national states.
| Dahlia Scheindlin | Foreign Policy | April 17, 2019
Argues that Israeli proposals for territorial separation do not necessarily amount to genuine Palestinian sovereignty or an equitable two-state settlement.
| Khaled Elgindy | Brookings Institution | June 2018
Argues that settlement growth and Palestinian institutional weakness threaten the territorial and political foundations of a viable Palestinian state.
| Khaled Elgindy | Brookings Institution | 2018
Argues that the structure of the U.S.-led peace process contributed to erosion of the very two-state outcome it was intended to produce.
| Shibley Telhami | Brookings Institution | 2017
Defends two states against one-state, confederal, Jordanian, and regional alternatives while acknowledging the difficulties of implementation.
| Khaled Elgindy | Brookings Institution | July 6, 2012
Examines how policymakers can determine whether partition remains achievable and what developments might make it impossible.
| Michael A. Cohen | Foreign Policy | September 14, 2011
Reviews the political and territorial barriers that made implementation of the widely endorsed two-state formula increasingly difficult.
One State, Equal Rights, and the Existing One-State Reality
| Edo Konrad | +972 Magazine | November 5, 2025
Discusses a proposed transition from an unequal one-state reality toward democratic governance, leaving open one-state, confederal, and two-state institutional outcomes.
| Robert Gottlieb | The Guardian | October 25, 2025
Reviews a proposed roadmap for moving from entrenched inequality to democratic government through one state, binationalism, confederation, or connected states.
| Noam Sheizaf | The Guardian | September 14, 2025
Argues that diplomacy should begin with equal rights under the existing one-state condition and allow Israelis and Palestinians subsequently to determine the constitutional framework.
| Udi Dekel | Institute for National Security Studies | February 16, 2025
Argues that fragmented Palestinian enclaves cannot constitute a viable sovereign state and examines the strategic consequences of continued territorial integration.
| Ahmed Moor | The Guardian | July 8, 2024
Argues that equality and political rights should become the foundation of any future settlement and discusses one-state and confederal possibilities.
| Tom Segev | Foreign Affairs | April 23, 2024
Places contemporary debates over partition and Palestinian statehood within the longer history of Zionism, war, and competing territorial visions.
| Michael Young | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | December 2023
Considers political arrangements including Belgian- or Swiss-style confederal structures capable of preserving distinct national identities within a shared political space.
| Amjad Iraqi | +972 Magazine | August 10, 2022
Examines how settlement expansion, infrastructure, and Israeli policy have blurred the territorial boundary on which conventional partition depends.
| Amjad Iraqi | +972 Magazine | February 1, 2022
Examines whether Arab-Israeli normalization weakens Palestinian leverage and accelerates movement away from a viable two-state settlement.
| Joshua Leifer | +972 Magazine | August 10, 2021
Reviews arguments for abandoning exclusive Jewish statehood and imagining alternative political structures based on equality and shared citizenship.
| Edo Konrad | +972 Magazine | July 5, 2021
Discusses Palestinian citizenship inside Israel and how the meaning of political identity changes depending on whether the future contains one state or two.
| Yousef Munayyer | Foreign Policy | May 12, 2021
Argues that policymakers should recognize the emergence of a single political space rather than continue treating the Green Line as an effective division between two states.
| Yousef Munayyer | Foreign Policy | June 30, 2020
Argues that annexation would formalize an unequal one-state reality rather than produce either genuine partition or democratic equality.
| Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man | +972 Magazine | December 27, 2019
Describes Israel-Palestine as an already existing one-state reality and asks what kind of political regime that single space will ultimately contain.
| Yousef Munayyer | Arab Center Washington DC | October 17, 2019
Argues for replacing the two-state paradigm with a single political system based on equal citizenship and rights for Israelis and Palestinians.
| Marwan Muasher and Perry Cammack | Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | June 28, 2017
Examines Palestinian strategic alternatives and the possibility that demographic and political changes could make one-state outcomes increasingly salient.
| Aziz Abu Sarah | +972 Magazine | 2017
Examines renewed regional discussion of alternatives as confidence in the conventional bilateral two-state process declines.
| Roi Maor | +972 Magazine | May 28, 2011
Questions whether land swaps can solve the settlement problem and argues that leaving extensive settlement infrastructure intact may perpetuate conflict under either one or two states.
| Dimi Reider | Foreign Policy | March 31, 2010
Examines the growing intellectual and political debate over replacing partition with a single shared Israeli-Palestinian state.
| INSS | Institute for National Security Studies | Current resource collection
Collects Israeli strategic analyses warning that continued movement away from partition could produce an irreversible one-state reality.
Feasibility, Public Opinion, Recognition, Settlements, and Implementation
| Reuters | Reuters | June 3, 2026
Reports on settlement expansion explicitly promoted by Israeli officials as a means of preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
| Reuters | Reuters | February 9, 2026
Provides an overview of the two-state model, its historical origins, proposed borders, and the major political and territorial obstacles to implementation.
| Foreign Affairs | Foreign Affairs | September 23, 2025
Argues that Israel cannot indefinitely avoid addressing Palestinian political rights and national aspirations despite collapsing domestic support for Palestinian statehood.
| Reuters | Reuters | September 22, 2025
Covers renewed international recognition of Palestine and efforts to transform diplomatic support for two states into an implementable political process.
| Reuters Graphics | Reuters | September 22, 2025
Uses maps and reporting to show how Israeli settlement and administrative policies are reshaping the West Bank and complicating the geography of Palestinian statehood.
| Associated Press | Associated Press | September 22, 2025
Examines renewed diplomatic momentum for Palestinian statehood despite Israeli opposition and increasingly difficult territorial realities.
| Reuters | Reuters | September 13, 2025
Reports on overwhelming UN General Assembly endorsement of a declaration calling for implementation of the two-state solution.
| Edith M. Lederer | Associated Press | September 12, 2025
Covers the UN General Assembly's overwhelming endorsement of a two-state settlement and calls for both sides to commit to implementation.
| Reuters | Reuters | September 2, 2025
Examines arguments that formal recognition of Palestine could transform the two-state framework from an indefinite negotiating objective into a state-to-state process.
| Susan M. Akram | Arab Center Washington DC | August 15, 2025
Critiques the New York Declaration and questions whether renewed diplomatic promises can produce sovereignty without confronting occupation, settlements, and unequal rights.
| Ami Ayalon | Foreign Affairs | August 5, 2025
Argues that Palestinian statehood is ultimately necessary for Israeli security and that military power cannot substitute for a political settlement.
| Ishaan Tharoor | The Washington Post | August 1, 2025
Examines the renewed international campaign for two states alongside growing evidence that territorial and political conditions are making partition harder to implement.
| Edith M. Lederer | Associated Press | July 29, 2025
Reports on an international declaration proposing steps toward an independent and demilitarized Palestine alongside Israel.
| Edith M. Lederer | Associated Press | July 28, 2025
Explains a major UN initiative intended to generate concrete international commitments toward two independent Israeli and Palestinian states.
| Marc Lynch and Shibley Telhami | Foreign Affairs | July 15, 2025
Examines the benefits and limitations of recognizing Palestinian statehood when the territorial and political foundations of genuine sovereignty remain unresolved.
| Foreign Affairs | Foreign Affairs | June 12, 2025
Examines regional public opinion and notes continuing support in much of the region for resolving the conflict through two states.
| Michelle Nichols | Reuters | April 29, 2025
Reports UN warnings that irreversible measures are needed to preserve Palestinian territorial integrity and prevent the disappearance of a viable two-state option.
| Stefanie Hausheer Ali and Dahlia Scheindlin | Atlantic Council | October 30, 2024
Examines Israeli and Palestinian polling on two states, annexation, Palestinian independence, and alternative political arrangements including confederation.
| David Pollock | Washington Institute for Near East Policy | February 25, 2020
Uses Palestinian polling to compare support for two states, equal-rights one-state arrangements, maximalist territorial claims, and pragmatic compromises.
| David Pollock | Washington Institute for Near East Policy | August 13, 2019
Shows the gap between Palestinian long-term territorial aspirations and willingness to accept practical compromises under a negotiated settlement.
Comparative Approaches: One State, Two States, and Hybrid Models
| RAND Corporation | RAND Corporation | September 19, 2024
Examines pathways toward durable Israeli-Palestinian peace while drawing on research comparing two-state, one-state, confederal, and status-quo outcomes.
| Bethan McKernan | The Guardian | November 4, 2023
Examines whether the two-state solution can still resolve the conflict and considers one-state and other alternatives as settlement expansion and political distrust undermine partition.
| Council on Foreign Relations | Council on Foreign Relations | 2021
Explores whether the existing diplomatic framework remains viable and discusses Palestinian arguments for moving from statehood negotiations toward a rights-based political strategy.
| Brookings Institution | Brookings Institution | 2017
Discusses alternatives to traditional territorial partition, including one democratic state and creative versions of two states connected through confederal arrangements.
| Alireza Nader | RAND Corporation | August 18, 2015
Compares three broad outcomes—two states, one state, and continuation of the status quo—and argues that indefinite conflict should not automatically be considered preferable to political alternatives.
| Chatham House | Chatham House | June 15, 2015
Discusses whether future Israeli-Palestinian arrangements could combine features of one state, two states, and confederation rather than conform to a strict institutional binary.
| Mairav Zonszein | +972 Magazine | June 4, 2015
Examines the Two States One Homeland initiative, which combines separate Israeli and Palestinian states with open borders, freedom of movement, and cross-border residency.
| +972 Magazine | +972 Magazine | September 9, 2014
Argues that Israelis and Palestinians are deeply interconnected regardless of whether their eventual political framework consists of one state or two.
| Noam Sheizaf | +972 Magazine | February 8, 2012
Discusses tensions between one-state and two-state advocates and the possibility that two sovereign states could eventually evolve toward greater cooperation or confederation.
Confederation and Federation
| Ghaith al-Omari | Washington Institute for Near East Policy | September 29, 2025
Evaluates proposals for a Jordanian-Palestinian confederation and explains why contemporary Jordanian-Israeli relations make such an arrangement politically difficult.
| Simon Jenkins | The Guardian | February 17, 2023
Examines growing interest in an Israeli-Palestinian confederation as an alternative capable of protecting national self-determination without requiring complete territorial separation.
| Matthew K. Godwin | Israel Affairs | September 24, 2019
Evaluates confederation through comparisons with federal and confederal systems elsewhere and identifies power asymmetry, sovereignty, political institutions, and national identity as major obstacles.
| Khalil Shikaki | Brookings Institution | December 2003
Examines Palestinian state-building and considers the possibility that an independent Palestine could later establish confederal relations with Jordan.
| Graham E. Fuller | RAND Corporation | 1989
Discusses possible future Palestinian political arrangements, including independent statehood and eventual federation or confederation with neighboring states.
Critiques and Defenses of Confederation
| Yair Golan | Chatham House | March 10, 2025
Presents an Israeli center-left argument against confederation and in favor of political and civil separation through a negotiated two-state framework.
| Foundation for Middle East Peace | FMEP | January 31, 2025
Highlights contemporary arguments for confederation and the proposition that two sovereign states could share institutions while maintaining national self-determination.
| Tony Klug | The Guardian | May 7, 2016
Examines alternatives to traditional partition while arguing that Israeli and Palestinian national aspirations must remain central to any sustainable settlement.
Democratic and Binational One-State Models
| Arab Center Washington DC | Arab Center Washington DC | December 14, 2023
Advocates a democratic state encompassing Israel, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza with equal political and civil rights regardless of ethnicity or religion.
| Arab Center Washington DC | Arab Center Washington DC | September 30, 2021
Examines declining confidence among Palestinian youth in territorial partition and increasing interest in rights-based alternatives.
| Peter Beinart | Foundation for Middle East Peace | February 27, 2019
Discusses predictions that continued settlement expansion could shift Palestinian politics from demands for statehood toward demands for equal citizenship within one political system.
The "One-State Reality" Argument
| Foundation for Middle East Peace | FMEP | October 27, 2023
Includes arguments that peace could eventually take the constitutional form of a democratic single state, two states, or federation provided political equality is guaranteed.
| Tamara Cofman Wittes | Brookings Institution | May 14, 2021
Warns that failure to achieve territorial partition leaves Israelis and Palestinians within an increasingly unequal and violent single political reality.
| Foundation for Middle East Peace | FMEP | July 8, 2020
Collects arguments that the conventional separation-based two-state model increasingly disguises rather than reverses permanent territorial integration.
Defending the Two-State Model
| Atlantic Council | Atlantic Council | February 18, 2026
Examines Palestinian statehood and the diplomatic consequences for Israel of continued opposition to a negotiated political settlement.
| Elliott Abrams | Council on Foreign Relations | February 3, 2025
Presents arguments against immediate Palestinian statehood and questions whether conventional partition would resolve rather than perpetuate conflict.
| Yossi Mekelberg | Chatham House | October 3, 2024
Argues that international recognition and stronger diplomatic action may be necessary if a viable Palestinian state is to emerge.
| Elliott Abrams | Council on Foreign Relations | February 12, 2024
Examines the relationship between Palestinian democratic institutions and the viability of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel.
| Elliott Abrams | Council on Foreign Relations | February 2, 2024
Presents a conservative critique of Palestinian statehood centered on security, governance, and the possibility that an independent Palestine could become a base for attacks on Israel.
| Oliver Holmes | The Guardian | January 22, 2024
Explains the traditional two-state framework and evaluates settlements, occupation, Palestinian political division, and Israeli opposition as barriers to implementation.
| Former International Leaders | Time | 2024
Argues for a renewed two-state peace process combining Palestinian sovereignty, Israeli security, international guarantees, reconstruction, and regional diplomatic involvement.
| Chatham House | Chatham House | 2024
Discusses Palestinian arguments that sovereignty within the 1967 borders represents a historic territorial compromise and remains the internationally recognized basis of partition.
| Council on Foreign Relations | CFR | February 16, 2005
Explains the Quartet Road Map and its attempt to establish an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel through phased political and security reforms.
| Council on Foreign Relations | CFR | Updated resource
Reviews decades of American support for negotiated Israeli-Palestinian partition, including Oslo, the Clinton Parameters, the Road Map, and later diplomatic initiatives.
Why Partition May Be Failing
| Council on Foreign Relations | CFR Education | Updated July 14, 2026
Provides historical context for partition proposals, Oslo, Palestinian statehood, settlement expansion, and successive diplomatic efforts to establish two states.
| Hugh Lovatt | European Council on Foreign Relations | February 11, 2020
Critiques the Trump peace plan's territorial assumptions and questions whether highly restricted Palestinian sovereignty qualifies as a genuine two-state settlement.
| Zena Agha, Rashid Khalidi and Daniel Seidemann | Foundation for Middle East Peace | 2020
Examines how settlements, annexation, and Israeli control of East Jerusalem affect the practical geography required for an independent Palestinian state.
| Chatham House | Chatham House | 2002
Examines early warnings that severe Israeli-Palestinian polarization and weakening Palestinian governance might destroy the possibility of territorial partition.
| European Council on Foreign Relations | ECFR | Continuing project
Tracks European policies differentiating between Israel and settlements in territories occupied since 1967 and their implications for preservation of a two-state outcome.
Public Opinion About the Competing Models
| Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research | PCPSR | June 15, 2021
Reports Palestinian public opinion on whether settlement expansion has made the two-state solution impractical and measures attitudes toward alternative frameworks.
| Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research / Israel Democracy Institute | Joint Poll | 2021
Compares Israeli and Palestinian attitudes toward two states, a democratic one-state arrangement, and two sovereign states joined in a confederation.
| David Pollock | Washington Institute for Near East Policy | August 26, 2019
Compares Palestinian support for two states, one state, maximalist territorial claims, and confederation with Jordan or Egypt.
Sovereignty, Statehood, and Recognition
| Arab Center Washington DC | Arab Center Washington DC | September 24, 2025
Examines whether international recognition of Palestine has meaningful legal or political consequences when sovereignty remains constrained on the ground.
| Council on Foreign Relations | CFR | September 23, 2025
Reviews the diplomatic history of Palestinian statehood and explains how international recognition relates to the broader objective of establishing two sovereign states.
| The Guardian | The Guardian | August 13, 2025
Discusses the argument that equal rights must ultimately be protected regardless of whether Israelis and Palestinians adopt one state or two.
| Associated Press | Associated Press | July 2025
Reports international efforts to pressure Israel toward negotiations over Palestinian statehood and renewed implementation of the two-state framework.
| Shibley Telhami | Brookings Institution | 2011
Discusses the role of the United Nations in Palestinian statehood and the diplomatic principle of Israel and Palestine existing as two internationally recognized states.
Security and Viability of Palestinian Statehood
| Steven A. Cook | Council on Foreign Relations | April 2, 2024
Discusses Israeli skepticism toward Palestinian statehood and the argument that security concerns have significantly weakened domestic Israeli support for partition.
| C. Ross Anthony et al. | RAND Corporation | 2015
Compares economic consequences of alternative Israeli-Palestinian futures and evaluates the potential benefits associated with successful implementation of two states.
| George Mitchell and David Miliband | Chatham House | October 17, 2011
Discusses the longstanding argument that failure to achieve territorial partition would eventually confront Israel with fundamental questions concerning democracy and national identity.
| RAND Corporation | RAND Corporation | 2006
Examines how borders, security institutions, international assistance, and Israeli-Palestinian cooperation might operate in a viable independent Palestinian state.
| RAND Corporation | RAND Corporation | 2006
Summarizes proposals for Palestinian security and permeable Israeli-Palestinian borders under a negotiated two-state settlement.
Historical Roots of the Models
| Foreign Affairs | Foreign Affairs | September 1, 1989
Discusses Israeli-Palestinian settlement possibilities including independent Palestinian statehood and Palestinian-Jordanian confederal arrangements.
| Foreign Affairs | Foreign Affairs | January 1, 1975
Reviews Palestinian nationalism and historical proposals involving territorial partition, Palestinian statehood, and a shared homeland.
| Judah L. Magnes | Foreign Affairs | Historical
Presents an early binational vision based on political cooperation between Jewish and Arab communities rather than exclusive sovereignty over all of Palestine.
Post-Oslo Political Alternatives
| Middle East Institute | Middle East Institute | June 21, 2021
Presents competing views of U.S. strategy, including arguments that neither an immediate democratic one-state arrangement nor confederation currently commands sufficient bilateral support.
| Carnegie Endowment for International Peace | Carnegie Endowment | September 21, 2018
Discusses demographic and territorial arguments surrounding Israeli control of the occupied territories and proposals involving Palestinian-Jordanian confederation.
Regional and International Dimensions
| Atlantic Council | Atlantic Council | June 10, 2025
Reports expert expectations concerning the likelihood of a sovereign Palestinian state and the future regional diplomatic environment.
| Middle East Institute | Middle East Institute | April 24, 2019
Reviews Jordan's rejection of proposals or rumors suggesting that Palestinian statehood could be replaced through confederation with Jordan.
| Middle East Institute | Middle East Institute | July 11, 2017
Examines how Palestinian political fragmentation and separate governance in Gaza complicate both two-state diplomacy and regional alternatives.
| Middle East Institute | Middle East Institute | March 1, 2017
Examines Jordanian fears that collapse of the two-state framework could revive proposals to shift the Palestinian national question east of the Jordan River.
| Council on Foreign Relations | CFR | Continuing resource
Provides historical context on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, the Paris peace conference, Palestinian statehood efforts, and diplomatic support for two states.
