WJC leader says demise of two-state solution a ‘grave threat’ to Israel

World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder warns that the “demise of the two-state solution” will force Israel to choose between being a democracy and maintaining its Jewish character.

That is one of two “grave threats” that Lauder,a former ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, warns of in an opinion piece in The New York Times.

“I am conservative and a Republican, and I have supported the Likud party since the 1980s,” he writes. “But the reality is that 13 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. And almost half of them are Palestinian.”

The second threat, according to Lauder, stems from Israel’s capitulation to religious extremists and the growing disaffection of the Jewish diaspora. Most Jews outside of Israel are not accepted in the eyes of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox, who control ritual life and holy places in the state.”

“Many non-Orthodox Jews, myself included, feel that the spread of state-enforced religiosity in Israel is turning a modern, liberal nation into a semi-theocratic one,” he says. “We must change course. We must push for a two-state solution and find common ground among ourselves so that we can ensure the success of our beloved nation.”