National Security Adviser: US Committed to Two-State Solution

Says Palestinians must replace 'old leadership' with a new generation

In an interview Thursday, National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien says that the US remains committed to a two-state solution with Israel and the Palestinians, and wants to ensure that the Palestinians get their own state with their own government.

Though the US never formally disavowed the two-state solution policy, the Trump Administration had been more vague about it based on what Israel wants, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the Palestinians having a proper state.

The Trump peace plan continued to suggest a nominal Palestinian state, setting aside territory for it. The Palestinians spurned that plan, because it was skewed heavily in favor of Israel. Israel sought to use this as a pretext to annex much of Palestine, and the Trump Administration did nothing to suggest they couldn’t.

O’Brien condemned the “old leadership” of the Palestinians for this failure, saying that they are trapped in Marxist-Leninist revolutionary struggle mentality. He called on them to be ousted, and replaced with a new generation of younger Palestinians willing to accept a “great future” within the context of US policy.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.