Why We Wrote This On Monday, in New York, diplomats will debate the prospects for a Palestinian state. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli bulldozers are set to begin construction that will, the government hopes, make such prospects moot. They will give Israel full control of a band of territory that cuts the West Bank in two. To make the establishment of a geographically contiguous, viable Palestinian state all but impossible. In 2009, feeling pressure from then-President Barack Obama, he made a speech outlining a diplomatic vision including a Palestinian state.