To solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: First confront Iran

For too long, a two-state solution has been a panacea for peace in the Middle East. But it will never come about until diplomats and politicians address the real reason why the region remains in chaos: the destabilizing role Iran and its proxies play.

As the Israel-Hamas war enters its fourth month, the more clear it is that the brutality of the Oct. 7 attacks was itself a strategy. Iran trained and funded Hamas  with the mission to refocus global attention on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The barbaric pogrom, which Hamas fighters documented with GoPro cameras, was designed not only to terrorize Israelis, but to trigger a devastating Israeli invasion against Hamas in Gaza, replete with civilian casualties.

Sander Gerber and Robert Wexler are members of the U.S. State Department’s Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA) advisory board. Wexler is president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace and was a Democratic member of Congress from Florida (1997-2010). Gerber is a former vice chairman of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 

Read the full article in The Hill.