Israeli Labor Party Pushes For Two-State Solution
Labor Knesset Member Hilik Bar claims that the two-state solution has support among Israelis and the Knesset, but not inside the government, where the prime minister is “trapped in his party.”
In stark contrast to the current political trend, when most of the young Knesset members chosen in the last elections are focused on the socio-economic agenda in the spirit of the 2011 social protests, Secretary-General of the Labor Party and Deputy Speaker of the Knesset Hilik Bar is actually marching with the tattered banner of the diplomatic process. When others worked to establish a Knesset lobby to address the cost of living and the housing crisis, Bar started the “Lobby for the Promotion of a Solution for the Israeli-Arab Conflict,” which supports the concept of two states for two peoples.
On Sunday morning, July 14, by virtue of his position as secretary-general of the Labor Party, Bar stood beside party Chairperson Shelly Yachimovich at a press conference where she announced early party primaries. Bar believes that this is the right move to get the embattled party back on an even keel. However, with all due respect to internal party politics, he dedicates a great deal of his time behind the scenes, working with other Knesset members to promote a meaningful political effort to promote the two-state solution. On Wednesday, July 17, he is expected to submit a precedential bill according to which the final status of the Palestinian territories and sovereignty over them will be settled in accordance with the "two states for two peoples" principle.
