In the immediate short term, the Israeli government must take decisive action to reduce friction and settle the volatile issues by means of the following steps: 1) an unequivocal public statement by the Prime Minister assuring that Israel will maintain the status quo that has been in place at the Temple Mount since 1967; 2) prevention of provocation by extremist Israeli elements on the Temple Mount, and a simultaneous easing of the limitations on the entrance of Muslim worshipers into the Temple Mount, provided a pledge by the Waqf...
The question of recognition of Palestinian statehood has once again found its way onto the international agenda. In the inaugural address of the new Swedish government, Prime Minister Stefan Löfven of the Social Democratic Party declared his country's intention to recognize the Palestinian state. "The conflict between Israel and Palestine can only be solved with a two-state solution, negotiated in accordance with international law,” he declared. "The two-state solution requires mutual recognition and a will to co-exist...
In the current Middle East reality, the foundation for strategic interests common to the area’s so-called pragmatic nations, led by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, has grown. These interests are also shared by Israel. The Arab Peace Initiative could emerge as a conceptual and operational basis for realizing two shared strategic interests: weakening Hamas and foiling the threat posed by ISIS. As such, a regional coalition based on shared strategic interests can be formed on the basis of the seminal idea behind the Arab Peace Initiative to...
In his address to the UN General Assembly on September 24, 2014, President Obama spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, asserting that the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza Strip “is not sustainable.” An important and even dramatic change reflected in the President’s comments from past addresses was his disengagement from the concept that he and various administration officials had propounded since he entered the White House: that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the source of most, if not all, of US troubles...
With their respective processes of political evolution and military buildup, Hizbollah and Hamas have gradually assumed semi-state governmental characteristics. Particularly given the weakening of the regular armies in the region in recent years, they now represent the two main immediate threats to Israel. In the aftermath of Operation Protective Edge, therefore, Israel would do well to consider the significance of the recent round of fighting on a possible future campaign against Hizbollah. In other words, at issue is what Hizbollah...
While Hamas accepted the ceasefire with virtually none of its many demands met, Israel, for its part, did not succeed in imposing on the terrorist organization one of the central demands presented by Prime Minister Netanyahu as an objective of the operation: the demilitarization of Gaza and the establishment of mechanisms that would deny Hamas the ability to reconstruct its force. However, the latter goal, disregarded after previous rounds of fighting, must be central to Israel’s demands in the negotiations on a long term...
By presenting his new three-stage process toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, PA President Mahmoud Abbas is now trying to maneuver amid the complex circumstances in which he finds himself: the renewed call for negotiations with Israel in the first stage is designed to twist Hamas’ arm, contain intra-Palestinian tensions, and influence the US mediator, whereas promoting the idea of joining international institutions and threatening to take Israel to court stem in part from the lack of domestic legitimacy to negotiate with...
The blockade of the Gaza Strip, labeled by the Palestinians as a “siege,” is ostensibly one of the fundamental reasons behind Hamas’ barrage of rockets that led to Operation Protective Edge. Yet while the Palestinians claim that Israel’s purpose in imposing the “siege” is to overpower Gaza economically, this charge has no basis in reality. Rather, the terrorism emanating from the Gaza Strip is the root cause of Gaza’s abject economic state, and until it is eradicated from the area, the prospects for economic growth and development...
The third round of fighting between Israel and Hamas in less than six years shows that the approach that has shaped Israel’s conduct to date has failed. The alternative proposed in this article, which includes the abandonment of conflict management as a substitute for conflict resolution and opts for a return to an approach that strives for conflict resolution, holds the potential for a graduated change over time in the basic attitudes of Hamas, as well as Israel. The organization would then have two options: either it becomes an...
The economic reality in the Gaza Strip, which was in a state of crisis long before Operation Protective Edge, has deteriorated even further. Israel has an interest in working for the rapid reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, even though the image of an unrealized military achievement discourages Israel from enlisting in the reconstruction process, which will be seen as a strategic achievement for Hamas. Basic reconstruction of the Gaza Strip is also a vital element for the Palestinian state building process, and is an important lever...
The indiscriminate rocket and missile fire at cities in Israel, the discovery of tunnels posing a grave threat to the Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip, the fact that the Israeli government showed restraint and repeated willingness to accept a ceasefire in the middle of the conflict, and the broad support for Israel in both the Congress and among US public opinion led the Obama administration to support steadfastly, continuously, and unequivocally Israel’s right to defend itself against Hamas. At the same time, the...
It has become clear once again that Hamas feels it has nothing to lose and that it is prepared to resume the armed conflict in order to force Egypt and Israel to hand it a significant achievement: lifting the Gaza blockade, opening the border crossings, and constructing a seaport. Since the eruption of the current conflict, Hamas has been willing to negotiate under fire, because it realizes that it has no bargaining chips at the negotiating table. Its arsenal contains only the ability to cause damage to all the parties involved, and...
