‘Two states, one future: five steps on the path to peace for Israelis and Palestinians’

The debate in Israel and Palestine is rooted in history, but we must focus on the future; a two-state solution. This has been the longstanding policy of the Labour party and Labour governments under Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer. 

Over the past two decades, but especially since the pogrom on October 7th and the ensuing war in Gaza, the debate surrounding the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians has become so vicious, so angry and so polarised, it’s easy to lose sight of the difficult but necessary work required to bring an end to this cycle of violence.  

Labour can defy this trend by focusing on what unites us: our belief that two states for two peoples is the only means by which to satisfy the legitimate demand of the Palestinian people for national sovereignty, as well as preserving Israel’s precious identity as a Jewish and democratic state. 

READ MORE: ‘Palestine recognition is the first, not final, step to achieving a durable peace’

We can also surely agree that, with the Community Security Trust revealing last week that 2025 marked the second-highest year on record for antisemitic incidents in the UK, we need to lower the temperature of the discourse. The effort to demonise Zionism, which is a belief in the Jewish people’s right to self-determination, is dangerous and wrong and we should say so clearly. Unlike the Greens, none of us in the Labour party can support the intimidatory and divisive tactics of anti-Israel activists going door-to-door in our towns and cities urging people to boycott the world’s only Jewish state; a tactic they don’t appear to deploy against our adversaries. 

But beyond this agreed destination, there should be a great deal of common ground in terms of how we get there. 

First, we must work on the practical task of helping to establish a Palestinian state. A vital first step requires the reunification of the West Bank and Gaza. Amid all of the terrible suffering inflicted on Israelis and Palestinians over the past two years, there are, at last, some tentative signs of optimism on this front. The new interim National Committee for the Administration of Gaza represents the first time since 2007 that many people in Gaza have lived free of the rule of Hamas. The committee’s work on reconstruction and deradicalisation should mark a transition to Gaza once again coming under the jurisdiction of a reformed and strengthened Palestinian Authority. 

Second, we must work to defeat the enemies of peace, on both sides. Our government has been right to sanction violent extremist settlers whose reprehensible actions are, as President Herzog has said, “illegal and immoral”. And it is right too to sanction far-right ministers whose presence in Netanyahu’s government is shameful and dangerous, both to Palestinians and to the ideals of freedom and equality contained in Israel’s Declaration of Independence.

At the same time, we must confront the policy of incitement to violence and terrorism perpetrated by the Palestinian Authority. Despite pledges, for instance, the PA continues to pay “salaries” to convicted terrorists serving time in Israeli prisons, while its school curriculum teaches the virtues of martyrdom, describes terrorists as “heroes” and repeats antisemitic tropes. The policies are morally wrong, politically counterproductive and totally detrimental to the cause of a two-state solution, feeding legitimate Israeli anxieties about the Palestinian leadership’s commitment to peace, while militating against the values which underpin any successful political process.  

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Third, we shouldn’t lose sight of the big picture and the utterly pernicious role played by Tehran which, together with its proxy armies Hamas, Hezbollah and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, has worked to derail and destroy each and every attempt to bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, most notably, through the wave of suicide bombings unleashed during the Oslo peace process. Hamas must be disarmed to ensure they will never be able to carry out their pledge to repeat the 7th October atrocities “again and again”.  We must support the brave people of Iran in their desire to throw off the brutal rule of the ayatollahs, recognising that the success of their domestic struggle could bring huge benefits across both the region and the world. 

Fourth, we must strengthen the hands of moderates, helping to build new civic society constituencies for peace in both Israel and Palestine. Next month, thanks to the leadership of the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Foreign Secretary, London will play host to the inaugural meeting of the International Fund for Israeli-Palestinian Peace. Modelled on the International Fund for Ireland – which was established in 1986 during the darkest days of the Troubles, but went onto play a key role both in securing and sustaining the Good Friday agreement – it will scale-up important, but grossly underfunded, peacebuilding work in Israel-Palestine. As they did in Northern Ireland, these projects have repeatedly proven to make a real difference in changing attitudes, fostering empathy and trust, and building “conflict-resolution” values. 

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Finally, and most importantly, we must acknowledge at all times the equally valid and legitimate claims of Jews and Palestinians, erasing neither from the history of the land of Israel or the conflict. As the great Israeli novelist Amos Oz once suggested: “The land has to be a two-family dwelling. We Israeli Jews are not going anywhere. We have no place to go. The Palestinians are not going anywhere, either. They too have nowhere to go. In its essence, the fight between the Palestinians and us is not a Hollywood western and a fight of good against evil, but a tragedy of justice versus justice.” 

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