GOP’s unradical shift on 2 state fix

The omission of Palestinian statehood from this year’s Republican Party platform is neither a radical change nor a departure from immutable U.S. policy, as some critics are claiming. In fact, both parties’ platforms have repeatedly changed positions on Israel-related issues over the years, in keeping with the preference of the presidential nominee or the changing mood among their rank and file.

The first time the Republican platform mentioned a Palestinian state was in 1980. In that year’s race, GOP nominee Ronald Reagan positioned himself as the pro-Israel candidate, after four years of clashes between President Jimmy Carter, Israel, and the American Jewish community. The Republican platform followed accordingly: “We believe the establishment of a Palestinian State on the West Bank would be destabilizing and harmful to the peace process.”

The next three Republican platforms echoed these sentiments, characterizing a Palestinian state as “inimical to the security interests of Israel, Jordan and the U.S.,” and rejecting the notion that Israel should even negotiate with “the Palestine Liberation Organization and its homicidal subsidiaries,” much less give them a state.

But in 1996, after 16 years of explicit opposition to Palestinian statehood, the Republicans shifted. During the preceding three years, Yasser Arafat had recognized Israel, the Israeli army had withdrawn from significant portions of the territories, and the creation of a Palestinian state seemed increasingly likely. As a result, the 1996 GOP platform dropped the party’s longstanding opposition to Palestinian statehood and said only that it “support[s] Israel’s right to make its own decisions regarding security and boundaries.”