Gary Bauer Says Two-State Solution Not a Synonym for Peace

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Sep 03, 2010, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former presidential candidate Gary Bauer on Friday in an exclusive analysis piece at Politico said that the "two-state solution" so popular with the media when covering Middle East peace talks is "not a synonym for peace."

As direct peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians began this week, Bauer detailed some of the problems that make forcing a two-state solution a mistake for those caught up in the violence of present day Middle East conflicts.

Bauer, the president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families, noted: "As a strong supporter of Israel and its right to exist in peace and security as a Jewish state, I have sometimes been criticized for my skepticism about a two-state solution. But invoking the two-state mantra is not a panacea for what ails the Middle East. Two-state advocates differ wildly about what form each state would take. More fundamentally, there is voluminous evidence that many Palestinians, including groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and Islamic Jihad, desire not two states but the destruction of Israel.

Late in the piece, Bauer wrote, "I cannot accept a two state solution until I know what those states would look like, where they would be located, and until I'm sure that the ultimate result would not be the destruction of Israel as an independent Jewish state. The creation of two states may well be part of the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But we do all parties involved a disservice by pretending that it is a synonym for peace."

For further interviews and analysis, contact Bauer's media office.

SOURCE American Values