Israel official: Accepting Palestinians into Israel better than two states

I believe that Mr. Rivlin is right, that it's the best solution.

Bravo Mr. Speaker. The Muslim world can't even take their own brother muslim that's why they want you wiped off themap to give your land to these people whom they call brothers by words and not by deeds. They can't accept their brother muslims because they know well that in their world, brother kills brother. Good luck to your brilliant idea sir.

... any other group of people? Hungarians ... or Russians ... or Eskimos ... or Arabs? Just live together equally? Equal in school, in the professions, in culture, in business? Look at "equality" in Paris, London, Zurich...etc! Only in America it works but Israel is not America. Nobody is. Think Reuven, think! Think about the numbers too...

I agree with you, and with Rivlin.

If Israel give all West Bank Palestinians Israel citzen ship to high likleyhood cival war that cause most Palestinians end in other side Jordan river.

I am willing to agree with you except on one point, Israel will not include Gaza in such a deal. Gaza must return to Egypt or make an independent small state, like Monaco, Andorra, Luxembourg etc.

Whatever next?

Incorporate West Bank and Gaza with its hostile inhabitants into Israel is not realistic and therefore impossible. Other option is to remove the Palestinians from those areas to the Arab countries with oil under the ground. The example is: The Poles and Chechs had deported the Germans from their areas and now they are in one Europe harmoniously. The Israelis could do that with Palestinians and the peace would at last come to that part of the Middle East.

Again, for all those ignorant of Israeli politics: Rivlin was trying to be super-pro-settler with his statement - i.e., no evacuation of any settlements at all. But against his will, he has demonstrated the destructive logic of the entire settlement enterprise. The settlers, as Rivlin unwittingly has shown, will eventually bring the destruction of Israel. And this was predictable (and predicted by many) from the start of the settlement project - i.e, shortly after the '67 war.

with Rivlin, what is your solution? (Other than dumping the Palestinian into Jordan). They have been begging for 20% of what they consider to be their country, while the settler population quadrupled in WB since 1993. If Abbas is smart, he should disband the PA and start demanding Israeli citizenship for his people.

"As of today, Israel has 1.5 million Israeli Arab citizens.If you add the West Bank and its 3.5 million Arabs, you will have 5 million Arabs and 6 million Jews in Rivlin`s Israelo/Palestinian state. Rivlin....what happened to you ?" Yes Majority RULES...but wait 20 years.

It makes no economic sense to try to split the area into two states, and it is politically impossible to do so. The settlers won`t leave without a civil war and Israel won`t let the Palestinians have more than a few Bantustans. As a person that was born and raised in Esat Jerusalem , I agree with the Speaker solution. The West Bank and gasa does not provide any reasonable foundation for a State. The Paletinians are not welcomed in any of the Arab Countries. Sharing the land by all parties and accepting the Israeli nationality is the best solution.

All the people in the West are cheering. Rivlin speaks their language. Their peoples are all mixed together. However, this is notZionism. Maybe this is some sought of liberal Jabotinskyite position. The only solution is an ethnic Jewish state whe we we could exult in our Jewishness and an ethnic Arab state where they could exult in their Arabism. That is why we came here in the first place. There are participants in this forum , who know the realities of the Middle eas who have said why.

Sharing Jerusalem with a Palastinain state is off limits but forming a single state with the West Bank and Gaza is just fine? Entrusting the future of the Jewish people to what may one be an Arab majority in the Knesset is ok? It's not ok. It's madness. It is the Jewish State that secures Jews the right to live on the land. It sure is not constitutions however well they may be drafted or pledges of good faith and brotherhood from Arabs whether they are secular nationalists, religious fundamentalists or otherwise. France had a constitution during the Dreifus Affair. Germany had a constitution before the Nazi takeover. We've been there and done that. Not interested in a re-run. A two state solution is the only solution, and if Rivlin wants to be a citizen of a Palastinian State and the Palastinains will have him as such, that's fine. But leave the Jewish people out of it.

I love your knee-jerk reaction of calling Rivlin an "outgrow of the extreme left"... There's nothing like some good old ignorance coupled with a hefty amount of hostility towards people from a different part of the political spectrum. Who needs arguments when you've got insults, am I right? Speaking of right... You know that Reuven Rivlin is a Likud politician, don't you? In fact he's the speaker of Knesset, and he was appointed by Bibi's very right-wing coalition. You think they pick many from the "extreme left" for that position?

....about Rivlin, whose party they most probably have voted for last year. Sorry, my dear "smarties", but that is exactly what you will get for your continued support of right-wing Israels policies...:)

But with age they soften up , they lose their pep , and become worst then a lefty . As far as settlements concern adjustments will have to be made . But a by-national state idea with Arabs is a real nut that only a degenerate could entertain .

Precedents : Lebanon , Iraq , Jordan , Afghanistan , Pakistan ...and all the other Stans in the world . So , Mr.Rivlin , which example would you prefer to emulate , while integrating a few millions more , welfare demanding militant Arabs , into Israel ????

As of today, Israel has 1.5 million Israeli Arab citizens.If you add the West Bank and its 3.5 million Arabs, you will have 5 million Arabs and 6 million Jews in Rivlin`s Israelo/Palestinian state. Rivlin....what happened to you ?

This is a Religious and Spiritual Battle. It is whether ALLAH the god of Ibraham, Ishmael, Mohammad the Prophet, and the Imams is the one true god. Or is YHWH the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who is Israel)is the one true god. The battle over Jerusalem has become the stumbling block of the world. The Hebrew Scriptures declare that King David and his son Solomon made Jerusalem the capital of Judah and Israel 3000 years ago. 1700 years later the Quran-Koran never even mentions the city of Jerusalem.

However, a union similar to the EU which might include countries like Jordan and Egypt might have long term possibilities

Israel incorporates Judea and Samaria and deports all the troublemakers to Gaza. Anyone who was not born in greater Israel has to go through an immigration process and if they are not accepted then the are returned to their homeland. As others here have said, the land is already a de facto single state. Israel just needs to control who is migrating into the area. Gaza is a lost cause and can remain Judenfrei so long as Israel can completely seal that border. No gasoline, food, medicine or goods. Let their Moslem Brothers take care of them.

This is the speaker of the Knesset?

This is the best statement i have read in Haaretz. Israel and Palästina is one, the Kingdom of God. And all people should be equal and participate in prosperity as brothers and sisters. Yes yes yes, this is the way we have to go to fullfil the prophecy of Isaiah. Yes we can

Know THE TRUTH. East Jerusalem was taken by Israel from Jordan in 1967. Umm that is Jordan and not the imaginary Palestine Kingdom. Jordan formally gave up all rights to all of the West Bank and Jerusalem in 1987. The FACTS are all of the West Bank and all of Jerusalem are part of sovereign Israel. No amount of propaganda and revisionist history will change the truth.

Apparently, many of the responders here do not know Israeli politics. Rivlin belongs to the hard right-wing of Likud, as you can verify by reading about his past. His statement was undoubtedly intended to stress his unwillingness to evacuate any settlements. But, quite unwittingly, he revealed the self-destructive logic of the settlers' position - i.e., that sooner or later it will bring about a single, bi-national state between the River and the Sea. Rivlin has done a great service in, however unwittingly, demonstrating where the settlers are bringing us.

This is fundamentally an anti-Zionist position; Likud finally shows its true colors as prefering land over the state. I hope Rivlin understands that a bi-national state simply won't work; it will lead to civil war, as Palestinians will inevitably seek to take over what they believe to be their exclusive patrimony. Two states is till the best hope for peace, but Likud and Rivlin must understand that means leaving most of the West Bank.

I am a part of a visible minority in Canada, yet I feel as Canadian as any other person in this great land, a multinational society is the way we were intended to live. Go Habs!

A real outgrow of the extreme left which cares little about Israel and much about outdated , outvoted self-loathing fringe of misfits . I bet he has children already living abroad and hopefully he will follow very soon . Soon I will be living in Israel and would not like to see any of them in a true Jewish country .

Reuven Rivlin has recognized that the one-state solution is the only solution. It's good to see some common sense coming from the Israeli side.

i like the idea - one state, everyone Jews & Arabs living side by side in harmony. But as i see now, even the Israel Arabs are treated without equality. Is the Israeli government ready and capable of taking under her wings the Arabs from West Bank & Gaza? If so, then show that intention with actions - treating Jews and Arabs alike; treating Jewish extremists like Arab Muslim extremists. Then it will be a good plan and a right thing to be said.

Rivlin presents a stark but necessary choice to Israelis. If the land theft and expulsions from the West Bank proceed apace, there will be no alternative but to have a single state for all. And Jews will be in the minority in that state. To avoid this outcome, steps have to be taken to disable those driving Israel to the brink by seizing Palestinian land and building settlements. To avoid this outcome, steps have to be taken to achieve a viable and contiguous Palestinian state in the West Bank, connected to Gaza by Chunnel. Only Israelis can create the conditions for avoiding the one state inevitability.

Is this guy suggesting that the Palestinian population should be absorbed into an Israeli population??? HAHAHHA thats so racist. A lot of you people in here are either brainwashed, or cold hearted towards human life. You're suggesting that it would be better for one community to lose their identity while the other becomes stronger through this prejudice policy. You all disgust me! ha.

So be it! Everyone should have the right to immigrate or emigrate - let the ones who chose the land, get the land in question.

There will be peace when conditions arise in the land that a prime minister of Israel is Arab, a President Jew or vice versa - demographics and nature will dictate the future of Israel, and perhaps there should be national referendums on issues that were previously decided by Jews only - such as the name of the state, guidelines, constitution (Israel still does not have one) - the idea of arab only or jewish only neighborhoods, right of return (for Jew and Muslim) etc.

time will come when everybody will understand that one nation with 2 federated states would be the best solution for Israelis and Palestinians.

For an argument that Rivlin reflects (perhaps unwittingly) where the centrist position is heading, see this: http://zeek.forward.com/articles/116374/the-emerging-one-state-consensus/

Is Habermas' call to stop defining states according putative national entities finally heard? I hope so. But in order for it to be achieved, a lot remains to be done...

Nothing to add.

Sorry, Rivlin, anti-semites, Israel-haters and other assorted lunatics, but Israel is not going to commit suicide and end its existence as a Jewish state any more than Turkey is going to merge with Greece or the United States are going to merge with Osama Bin Laden

First question: aren*t the WB Arabs Jordanian Arabs and the Gaza Arabs Egyptian Arabs? Had they accepted Israel, they*d have become Israelis long time ago. Second question: *d they ever integrate in a democratic system (?), considering that Islam and democracy cannot co-exist. Muslims want to live under their Sharia-laws and ways. Just look what problems Europe has with them! Third question: are we capable of building reciprocal trust? Our wounds are still bleeding and hurting. There hardly is any will to merge, on both sides. Fourth question: is Rivlin ready to give up on a Jewish state? I believe a bi-national state *d have been possible before -93, but not any more. Too much water under the bridge.

Maybe Abbas can't deliver the goods. It seems every other day he's asking the Americans to impose a settlement. But in all fairness he also is expected to deal with those ever so reasonable Likudniks. As for a one State solution that one has a long way to go.

I'm glad to see that Israel has one statesman left and not just another politician. We need more of this guy and less of the other schmucks.

to half-Arab lover: "If you and I had a child, they would refuse to classify him as Jewish. He would be a second-class citizen. But I don't think that sort of thing will last forever. At the moment the religious zealots are powerful in the government: it's inevitable, Zionism was a religious movement. As the nation matures that will fade away. The race laws are already controversial. We're fighting them, and we'll win in the end." The agent goes on to ponder: would he give up the love of his life or Israel. Follett's story is set in 1969 but published in 1979.

However, a union similar to the EU which might include countries like Jordan and Egypt and some other moderate Arab States might have long term possibilities for everyone.

The whole idea of two states for two peoples is that we live apart.Our history of past experience with our neighbours has made this very obvious.Clear borders make for good neighbours, so that each people can live according to their own culture.Me thinks the speaker is loosing his marbles, or perhaps he wants to apply some kind of apartheid to "solve the problem".

Canada is rapidly becoming a state in which visible "minorities" are the majority. There is no problem here. Our country is richer for it. There is nothing to fear.

Where have they been hiding this guy. He needs to be the face of Israel not that Russian gangster.

And that should be the yardstick of the region, shouldn't it? Obviously, Abbas cannot deliver any deal. What about Hamastan? Also part of Israel as full citizens? It'd be a wonderful idea to see the kidnappers who have been taunting Israel with Schalit waving Israeli passports.

In Mr. Rivlin's dream, as the Palestinian population explodes (no pun intended) Israel's majority Jews will become a minority. Their Arab fellow-citizens will then see them as dhimmi and not hesitate to try and kick them out or tax them to the sky. Eventually a civil war would ensue forcing the Jews to once again reclaim Jewish areas, more Arab refugees and the whole thing will be back to square one...

In this 1-state solution there will be 3 million Muslims and 5 million Jews. In 50 years, there will be 4 million Muslims and 1 million Jews - most Jews would have emigrated due to lack of opportunities.

LET JORDAN ACCEPT THEM.THE POPULATION OF JORDAN IS ANYWAYS 80% palestinian,JORDAN HAS PLENTY OF LAND(ROBBED BY THE BRITSH FROM THE JEWISH PEOPLE),JORDAN IS A moslem "country" AND GOOD RIDDENS...

that's the only way to solve the conflict, 1 state for two peoples.

Even tho there are more than a million palestinians muislims in Israel, most of the palestinians in the west bank want the whole area juden free. Those areas are very dangerous for even tourists and Israelis are forbidden to go to many area of the WB. There is no way that the pal will allow jewish settlements...In a utopia but not in 21 century palestinian/muslim reality. The depth of islamic intolerance toward everyone is too great and there seems to be no major muslim religious figures or political leaders that have power that talk about peaceful cooperation. Seems like they all want to continue to wage war on Jews and on Israel. Just ask Hezbolla...Just ask hamas...Just look at the venom from iran and syria and lebanon...And a few missiles from jordan. PEACE, I DON'T THINK SO. Let all the arab/muslim countries accept israel's right to exist...That is step one to peace

There is now, de facto, a single state from the Jordan to the Med, but it is based on Apartheid. It makes no economic sense to try to split the area into two states, and it is politically impossible to do so. The settlers won't leave without a civil war and Israel won't let the Palestinians have more than a few Bantustans. There could be mechanisms to unite the country properly and still safeguard the Palestinian and Jewish communities, but any unification must be on the basis of equal civil rights for all. Is Rivlin sincere in his wish for citizenship for the Palestinians?

I pray to the One True God of Israel and for the Descendants of Ishmael and Issac. The animosity of half brothers sparked by two mothers, separating the love of two sons from Abraham the father, is the ultimate root source of ancient rivalries and friction. Each Covenant made from Yahweh for both sons have a chance to restore the true intentions of Yahweh, resulting in a strong peace and secure United Israel. This restoration of the descendants would send a clear signal to the rest of the world, that if any enemies of Israel try to divide what has been decreed long ago, will invoke a Wrath from the Covenant Maker. Both Jew and Arab descendants can prove that Jerusalem is the Beacon for the Nations of the World, and as One Israel its descendants finally can achieve the peaceful coexistence so long desired.

Agree - as long as there was no separate laws for different people.

Rivlin believes in this himself.

This is a magnificent expression of a fundamental truth. The bi-national state is already a reality; the problem is that it is an apartheid state. That is a tragic outcome for Zionism as well as for the Palestinians. What is needed is a state in which the rights of the Hebrew-speaking nation and the Arabic-speaking nation are protected by a constitution that recognizes the very legitimate national interests of both peoples, but does not privilege any religion.

Is this a call for a one state solution in all of Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza? Would the Arab population in this state enjoy full and equal citizenship rights?

pi...true democracy, true peace, true security.

BUT NO APARTHEID STATE....WITH EQUAL RIGHTS