A missed opportunity for Israel to set the agenda for a future Palestine

Last Tuesday, all 22 member states of the Arab League, together with all 27 states of the EU, and 17 other countries, signed a declaration in New York which – for the first time in 22 months – unreservedly condemned Hamas’s attack of October 7, 2023, called on Hamas to release all the hostages, and for Hamas to disarm and to end their rule in Gaza.

Every single Arab and European state.

But because the document also proposed a range of moves towards a two-state solution that would be led by the Palestinian Authority, and because the document explicitly called upon Israel to change a number of its current policies, Jerusalem has been largely silent.

This is shortsighted.

Diplomacy is the art of shifting the narrative in one’s own desired direction, not ignoring those who might ultimately be persuaded of the reasonableness of your position.

Here, then, is the statement which, in my view, the government of Israel should have released:

The government of Israel notes with satisfaction that dozens of countries, including all 22 member states of the Arab League, have now condemned Hamas’s genocidal attack of October 7, 2023. The fact that every Arab state has called on Hamas to release every single hostage, to disarm, and to end their control of Gaza is a clear affirmation that Hamas is the enemy of peace and freedom. The government of Israel looks forward to working with the Arab League to achieve the goals of ending Hamas evil as soon as possible. As the government of Israel has always stated, should these steps be achieved, it would immediately bring about the end of the war in Gaza and the suffering of the Gazan population.