Arguably even more important if true give-and-take is to occur, Netanyahu succeeded overnight in taking back a very major concession that previous Israeli governments had made and turning it into a significant bargaining chip. For years - surely ever since Ehud Barak made his famous magnanimous peace offer - Israeli support for a two-state solution was more or less taken for granted. In a surprisingly short period, Netanyahu has put Israel into a position in which if it agrees to two states, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan will be able to say that they and Obama have wrested a major concession from Israel's "right-wing government."
it is important to deal now with the question of whether advocates of the two-state solution really mean two states - exactly the issue Netanyahu raised. If the answer is a hobbled state, Netanyahu may be right that it better to call it something else. If it is to be a true state, security arrangements other than relying on the U.S. and NATO are called for.
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