Rishi Sunak has a chance to foster a two-state solution in the Middle East
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Version 0 of 1. The prime minister could propose two embassies in Jerusalem, one for Israel and one for Palestine, says Yair Klein, while Richard Barnes calls for a single state, with equal rights for all Rishi Sunak’s reversal of Liz Truss’s proposal to relocate Britain’s embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem has been welcomed in many quarters (Report, 3 November). But could this be a missed opportunity to try to unlock the stalemate over the recognition of Palestinian rights to a homeland? By simultaneously proposing the setting up of a British embassy to Palestine in East Jerusalem at the same time as moving the British embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to West Jerusalem, the UK’s new administration could give credence to international attempts to move towards a two-state solution to the impasse in the region. Instead of remaining passive in the face of an increasingly recalcitrant Israeli government – the most rightwing in the country’s history following last week’s election – Mr Sunak could set an example to other leaders to shift the conversation back to the possibility of a more equitable distribution of power and of territory.Yair KleinLondon Your editorial on the Israeli elections is excellent, as far as it goes (The Guardian view on Israel’s latest election: a frightening day for democracy, 2 November). What you don’t mention is that the policies of the Religious Zionists and Likud are only an extreme expression of the policy of building an apartheid state against the Palestinians that Israel has long pursued – a policy whose results were described in detail in a report by Amnesty International this year. The only peaceful alternative to more and more extreme Israeli governments is the establishment of a single state, with equal rights for all, between the river and the sea.Richard BarnesWindermere, Cumbria |