In recent weeks, a growing number of traditionally pro-Israel states have decided to recognize a Palestinian state. These decisions have invited criticism and opposition from the government of Israel and many of its Zionist supporters. This criticism is rooted in a narrative that views a Palestinian state as a “reward” to the Oct. 7 attackers, and which characterizes Palestinian statehood as a punitive measure against Israel for continuing to pursue the war.

It is reasonable for supporters of Israel to be concerned about unilateral actions to define a Palestinian state on Israel’s borders. Palestinian governance is characterized by intense polarization among warring factions which include eliminationist terror groups, and it is undermined by grotesque levels of corruption. Movement toward independent statehood brings the risk of regional terror actors infiltrating such a state and gaining the ability to strike Israel with impunity from next door.

It is also reasonable to argue that we should notice how history changes, and to not continue to wheel out the shibboleths of the past if they are outdated. For many, the very phrase “two-state solution” describes the wishful thinking of the pre-second intifada, pre-Oct. 7 past.

But it is a worse failure of moral imagination and political opportunity to reflexively oppose Palestinian statehood, especially since movement towards positive change for Israelis and Palestinians is the dream for Zionism — not its nightmare.

The aspiration for........

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