One democratic state with equal rights
One state from the river to the sea, every person an equal citizen.
What happens to Israeli Jews
Equal citizens, likely a minority within a generation if refugees return; no longer a Jewish nation-state.
What happens to Palestinians
Equal citizens with the vote everywhere; no separate Palestinian nation-state.
What it requires
- Equal citizenship for roughly 7 million Jews and 7 million Palestinians
- A constitution protecting both national groups — language, religion, culture, security
- An answer to refugee return that both groups accept, since it decides who is the majority
- Both national movements giving up their own state
Who supports it
Palestinian-Israeli Pulse, September 2024.
What history says
- South Africa 1994 — the model many invoke, though its history and demography differ
- Lebanon — a power-sharing state that fell into civil war (1975–90)
- Bosnia after Dayton (1995) — shared state, frozen division
- Northern Ireland — power-sharing inside one state after the Good Friday Agreement (1998)
The hard questions
- Would either national movement accept being a minority in the other's presence — and who protects the minority?
- Does the organised movement behind 'from the river to the sea' mean this, or an Arab state (see 'same slogan, different goals')?
- What happens to Jews' right to a refuge, given the history that created Israel?