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The Claim for Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State: A Reassessment

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) Tal Becker - The term "Jewish state" is sometimes misconceived as implying an aspiration for a Jewish theocracy. Properly understood, however, the claim seeks no more and no less than public recognition of the right of the Jewish people to self-determination in a state of their own. The demand for recognition is no different from the self-determination claims advanced by many other peoples under international law. The claim should also not be seen as an attempt to negate the corresponding Palestinian right to self-determination. Indeed, it is Israel's acceptance of a Palestinian nation-state that justifies parallel Palestinian acknowledgment of the Jewish nation-state. True resolution of the conflict can only come when the legitimacy of Jewish and Palestinian collective rights is acknowledged. An agreement without such recognition betrays a Palestinian unwillingness to ever genuinely bring the conflict to an end. The writer served as senior policy advisor to Israel's Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2006 to 2009.
2011-02-11 00:00:00
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