What if the greatest obstacle to peace between Israelis and Palestinians has never been borders, but recognition?

For decades, international diplomacy has treated the Israeli-Palestinian conflict primarily as a territorial dispute. The proposed solution became conventional wisdom: two peoples, two states. But what if the main obstacle to peace is not the absence of an agreed map?

What if the problem is more fundamental: the refusal of one side—and some of its regional allies—to accept the legitimacy of the other’s existence?

Since 1947, when the United Nations approved the Partition Plan recommending the creation of both a Jewish and an Arab state, diplomats have sought to turn that vision into reality. The Jewish leadership accepted the plan, while Arab states and Palestinian representatives rejected it.

In the decades that followed, additional opportunities emerged, yet none produced a final........

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