OPINION
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Israel, Palestine Need Outside Support for Lasting Fix
Neighbors must be involved: Friedman
By Nick McMaster
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Posted Jan 28, 09 12:33 PM CST
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(Newser)
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The dominant theory holds that the two-state solution is the answer to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But the war in Gaza has pushed tensions past the point where an equitable sharing of geography is enough, argues New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman. He wants a "five-state solution—Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, and Saudi Arabia."
Friedman puts on his mind-reader hat and casts his plan as a pitch from Saudi King Abdullah to President Obama, laying out each party's role in "an Arab solution that would put a stop to Iran’s attempts to Persianize the Palestinian issue." "Too much has been broken to go straight back to the two-state solution," he argues. "It would be like trying to build a house with bricks but no cement."