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Episode 4.5: At the Threshold of Annexation: Israelis, Palestinians and the One-State Reality – Ian Lustick

Interviewer: MATTHEW BERKMAN. Professor IAN LUSTICK returns to the podcast (see episode 1.15) to discuss the recent Israeli election, its implications, and the one-state reality that now tacitly guides political actors, Israeli, Palestinian and American alike. In his discussion with political scientist Matthew Berkman, he describes how both Jewish settlers and Palestinian leaders in the Occupied Territories are pushing to declare the territories officially annexed, albeit with different motives. Israeli leaders, reluctant to cross this threshold given the international legal requirements it would trigger, are unlikely to resist the pressure forever. Delving into debates among settlers and right-wing groups, Lustick details the debates about how Israeli sovereignty should be implemented in the context of Palestinian majorities, and he weighs the chances that, in the long run, the result will be a true multi-ethnic polity. In the short-term, however, there might be substantial consequences, especially dangerous to Palestinians, arising from Netanyahu’s political gamesmanship.