INTERVIEW: Ian Parmeter speaks to SBS about the proposed two-state solution for the Middle East

Ian Parmeter, Research Scholar and Middle East Expert at the ANU Centre of Arab and Islamic Studies in Canberra, says international calls for a two-state solution are unlikely to lead to results. The two-state solution for the conflict in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian territories goes back to a 1947 UN Resolution, which called for the land between Jordan and the Mediterranean to be divided into separate Israeli and Palestinian states. It had Jewish support back then, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly disagreed with US President Joe Biden, saying he does not support a separate Palestinian state after Israel ends its military campaign in Gaza. Mr Parmeter says around 500,000 Israeli settlers now living in the Occupied West Bank, areas of contention around Jerusalem and Gaza, and domestic pressure on Mr Biden and Mr Netanyahu means the solution now looks impossible. He explained its origins to SBS's Penry Buckley.