Recently I visited Israel for the first time in 25 years. Back in 1988, I spent five months in the Holy Land staying with family and friends, and also living on a kibbutz. At the time, I was a brash and uncompromising proponent of the two-state solution, a viewpoint which was considered extreme if not completely beyond the pale in the then very conservative Australian Jewish community.
In contrast, the two state perspective was considered quite mainstream within Israeli society. It was not surprising that only five years later Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organisation signed the Oslo Peace Accord which was expected to produce both an independent Palestinian State alongside Israel, and genuine Israeli-Palestinian peace and reconciliation. Sadly it produced neither.
The Israeli and international Jewish debate has changed significantly since that time. Most mainstream Israelis claim to support two states in principle. So do most Australian and other Diaspora Jewish leaders. But we still seem no closer to actually implementing a two-state solution that reconciles Israel's desire for peace and security, and the Palestinian demand for national independence.
Personally, I have become far more pessimistic about the prospects for a two-state outcome, and increasingly critical of Palestinian as well as Israeli barriers to conflict resolution.
Compared to 1988 my trip to Israel this time was short and rushed. I spent two days in and around Tel Aviv visiting close family and friends, then participated in a three day workshop at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Nevertheless, any visit to Israel is a valuable reminder of the enormous diversity of the population.
It includes dark-skinned Ethiopian Jews, Jews from Arab countries and North Africa known as Sephardim or Mizrahim, Jews from the former Soviet Union, Jews from Anglo-Saxon countries such as my relatives, and the older group of Ashkenazi immigrants from early-mid 20th century Europe. There is also an enormous difference between the mostly secular Jews of Tel Aviv, and the ultra-orthodox Jews that reside in Jerusalem and some other cities. The Arab community also includes a variety of groups including Druze, Bedouins, Muslims and Christians.
The political debate inside Israel plays out very differently to that within Diaspora Jewish communities. Many of the academics and students I spoke to at the conference leaned to the dovish Left, and were strong proponents of two states. One young student of Sephardi background commented: 'We are Arab Jews. We share the same food and language. Israel should utilise our