Bibi the Conjuror

Author: The Economist Editorial Board

The Economist

April 13th, 2019

Page 12

Cecily N. Bright

Mr. O’Grady

Contemporary World Issues

April 26th, 2019

 Israel and Palestine have been at odds since 1947, when the Israelites were placed in

Palestine after World War II. The major conflict has been Israel wanting recognition as an

individual nation, but Palestine will not recognize it since it is technically located on their land.

Now, in 2019, the fight involves more than the two countries, the United States has gotten

involved. Historically, the United States has supported Israel because of its democratic status. As

of May 14, 2018, the United States Embassy was relocated to Jerusalem, a popular city that the

Palestinians and Israelites fight over for ownership because of its holy significance, going back

to the creation of both the Jewish and Muslim religions. By moving the U.S. Embassy to

Jerusalem, the United States has officially recognized that land as part of Israel. One of the most

recent dilemmas that Israel is dealing with would be whether or not to annex the west bank. The

west bank is very significant to both Palestinians and Israelites. If Israel were to annex the west

bank, then that land would officially be part of Israel, meaning that the Palestinians living in that

area would technically become Israeli citizens. This would cause trouble for the Israeli

government because the new hypothetical Palestinian turned Israeli citizens would have the

ability to vote in Israel elections. If this were to happen, then the Palestinians could legally vote

out Israeli government officials. The reason that the Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime

minister, is hesitant to annex the west bank is because he does not want to lose support from the

United States. There has to an official statement made by the United States saying that they will

continue to support Israel, even if they decide to annex the west bank. The other solution to this

major problem would be a two state solution. This means that there would be recognition of

Israel as an independent nation from both Palestine and Israel. The only problem with this would

be where to place the border between the two countries, since right now there are no established
borders. This issue has gone on for far too long, and both sides need to learn to compromise if

they want to find a solution.