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Israeli Right Takes On Two-State Solution

Some young Israeli right-wing politicians have mastered public discourse against the two-state solution, suggesting even annexation and citizenship for the West Bank's Palestinians.
Israel's President Shimon Peres (R) meets head of the Bayit Yehudi party Naftali Bennett at Peres' residence in Jerusalem January 31, 2013. Peres began talks with political parties on Wednesday over who should form a new government and appears certain to ask incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to assemble it. REUTERS/Sebastian Scheiner/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS ELECTIONS) - RTR3D6TK
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On the 20th anniversary of the Oslo Accord, the two-state solution appears to be facing its greatest challenge yet from the political right. Articulate young representatives like Minister of Economy and Trade Naftali Bennett and Knesset member Tzipi Hotovely are increasingly and successfully depicting it as an outdated and unrealistic solution.

In the two decades since Oslo, the idea of the two-state solution has become increasingly accepted and entrenched in the Israeli public mind. At its height, the idea was publicly adopted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his Bar-Ilan University speech in June 2009. That appeared to be an unadulterated victory for the Israeli left, whose representatives have been preaching this solution since 1967 but were for a long time considered a delusional and irresponsible minority.

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