United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Tuesday that developments in the West Bank are severely undermining the prospect of a “two-state solution” and that international support for the partition policy must go beyond mere rhetoric.
At a high-level meeting on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York, Guterres claimed that the rapid growth of Jewish communities in the territories won by Israel during the 1967 Six Day War over the past four years constitutes a violation of international law.
He further emphasized the need to divide the land between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea into two states based on the pre-1967 lines.
The UN chief warned that the conditions needed for a “two-state solution” were being systematically eroded by facts on the ground created by the current Israeli government.
He specifically raised concerns over planned construction in E1 east of Jerusalem, warning that this “would deal a deathblow to the prospect of a contiguous and viable Palestinian state.”
“There is simply no alternative, and time is running out.”
Several Western leaders echoed the UN chief’s concerns.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney warned that Israel’s E1 plan poses a “direct threat” to partition and suggested practical steps to enforce a two-state framework.
European Council President Antonio Costa complained that the international consensus around partitioning Israel into two states had yet to translate into sufficient action on the ground, emphasizing that Jewish construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank jeopardizes the entire two-state framework.
Costa further lamented the fact that despite 142 nations endorsing the “New York Declaration on the Two-State Solution” last year, the situation on the ground had “barely improved.”
While much of the public rhetoric criticizing Israel at the UNGA this week was carefully framed in the language of bringing peace to the region or helping Palestinians, it should be obvious by this point that the core aim of Western leaders is to force Israel from the West Bank – a territory that constitutes the cradle of Jewish civilization.
Since the Six Day War, Western nations have been obsessed with undoing Israel’s victories in that war and preventing any steps that could entrench Israel’s presence in the territories.
While Israeli leaders in recent decades have generally been careful not to antagonize the international community, the last four years have seen a drastic increase in West Bank Jewish construction.
Under the current Israeli government, Israel has approved and advanced the construction of a record number of new West Bank Jewish towns and retroactively legalized smaller unauthorized villages that had sprouted up organically without state recognition or support.
According to Western-funded watchdog groups and media reports, dozens of new Jewish communities have been approved in recent waves – including 22 in mid 2025, 19 in late 2025, and an additional 34 approved by Israel’s security cabinet in early 2026 – bringing the total number of newly approved or regularized communities to over 100, alongside hundreds of new unauthorized villages and agricultural farms.
The Israeli political figure most directly responsible for fighting the two-state paradigm through the growth and legalization of West Bank Jewish communities over the last four years has been Betzalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism), who in addition to serving as finance minister also oversees issues related to West Bank Jewish civilian life at the Israeli defense ministry.
Despite his many shortcomings (which Vision Magazine often points out), Smotrich has done more than any Israeli leader in decades to thwart Western efforts to partition the country.
Taking obvious pride in his work to bury the two-state paradigm, Smotrich shot back at Guterres Tuesday evening.
“The UN Secretary-General’s wild incitement gives a tailwind to terrorism,” Smotrich tweeted on X.
“He is endangering the lives of half a million Jewish Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria.”
The minister further criticized Guterres for the material support UNRWA’s extends to Hamas.
“Someone who heads the organization that funded and provided cover for UNRWA – the operational arm of the Hamas terrorist organization in the October 7 massacre – cannot preach to us about anything.”
Smotrich then directly addressed the concerns expressed by Western leaders over the death of the two-state paradigm.
“I am proud to be spearheading a development revolution in Judea and Samaria that is, in practice, eliminating the idea of a Palestinian state and strengthening Israel’s security.”
