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Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, considered one of the most influential statesmen of the 20th century, died last week at the age of 100. In an interview he gave to the news website Politico shortly before his death, Kissinger - the first Jew to hold the position of secretary of state - suggested abandoning the two-state solution.
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Kissinger made this declaration against the backdrop of the Swords of Iron war and the Hamas massacre on October 7. He said that he would like the war to end "peacefully," but emphasized: "I don’t see a peaceful outcome with Hamas involved in the conflict. I would favor negotiations between the Arab world and Israel. I do not see, especially after these events, that direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians are very fruitful."
In response to the question of whether there can be long-term peace in the Middle East without a two-state solution, Kissinger stated that " a formal peace doesn’t guarantee a lasting peace," and expanded on this: "The difficulty of the two-state solution is shown by the experience of Hamas. Gaza was made quasi-independent by [former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon in order to test the possibility of a two-state solution. It has led, in fact, to a much more complex situation. It has become so much worse in the last two years than it has been in 2005. So, the two-state solution doesn’t guarantee that what we saw in the last weeks won’t happen again."
Kissinger also suggested that the West Bank be transferred to Jordanian control as an alternative to the two-state solution, which he said "leaves one of the two territories determined to overthrow Israel." Kissinger added: "Egypt has moved closer to the Arab side, so Israel will have a very difficult time going forward. I hope that at the end of it there will be a negotiation, as I had the privilege to conduct at the end of the Yom Kippur War. At that time, Israel was stronger relative to the surrounding powers. Nowadays, it requires a greater involvement of America to prevent a continuation of the conflict."