Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently announced that direct talks between Israel and the Palestinians will be renewed on September 2, 2010 in Washington. The talks will be launched in the presence of Prime Minister Netanyahu, Palestinian Authority President Abbas, and President Obama; also invited to the inaugural meeting are President Mubarak of Egypt, King Abdullah of Jordan, and Quartet emissary Tony Blair. After the initial meeting, the sides will proceed to direct talks, in the United States or in this region, and continue...
In late July 2010, a few weeks before the end of the four month period allotted for the Israeli-Palestinian proximity talks, President Obama called again for a renewal of the direct dialogue between the parties. The responsibility for renewing the negotiations was placed equally on Israel and the PA, although over the past few months a slight change was evident in the atmosphere surrounding the international, and especially the American, effort to put a meaningful political process on track.
At first glance, the reluctance of Palestinian Authority President and Palestinian Liberation Organization Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) to move from proximity talks (which have not really been held in close proximity) to direct negotiations with Israel seems incomprehensible. But things are not necessarily what they seem.
Listening to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s remarks the past few months regarding the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, one cannot help but wonder: Netanyahu seems to be going out of his way to open direct negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible. The prime minister has said he is aiming for intensive negotiations toward a comprehensive settlement (the “agreement in stages” approach, explains Netanyahu, has failed and will not resume). According to Netanyahu, the situation in the Middle East is “fluid” and the future of...
In the course of the public debate in Israel following the interception of the Gaza flotilla, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz proposed that Israel seal all crossings into Gaza entirely, while Egypt open the Rafah crossing that separates Egypt from the Gaza Strip. According to this proposal, all goods traveling into and out of Gaza would go through the Rafah crossing. The plan did not receive much attention in Israel because it seemed not practical, but the Egyptian government responded harshly, saying Israel could not shirk its...
Although too little time has elapsed since the flotilla episode to allow full perspective, it is already clear that the operational failure involving the takeover of the Mavi Marmara and the international criticism of Israel’s action have damaged Israel’s international standing, its image as a law abiding state, and its strategic relations with Turkey and other countries. This is the newest expression of a reality that has accompanied Israel over the years: in the given circumstances, an operational mishap, even if...
On March 3, 2010, the Arab League foreign ministers’ follow-up committee, meeting in Cairo, adopted a decision supporting the start of ג€proximity talksג€ between Israel and the Palestinians. At stake are negotiations that would be conducted in a similar format to that of the Israel-Syria negotiations with Turkish mediation during Prime Minister Olmert’s term in office, i.e., with the negotiating teams situated in the same city while the Turkish mediator moved between them. In this case, it is likely that the American...
The U.S. is currently engaged in the attempt to revive final status negotiations between the Palestinian Authority and the government of Israel. While Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has declared his wish to open negotiations without prior conditions, Palestinian President Abbas (Abu Mazen) has repeatedly asked for a complete settlement freeze for at least several months. He also wants “clarifications” on the American proposal to resume negotiations in proximity talks, i.e., no face-to-face negotiations between Israelis...
Eight months ago, President Obama stood on the dais at Cairo University and declared with great fanfare that he intends to open a “new page” in relations between the United States and the Islamic world in general and the Arab states in particular. Both the tone and contents of the speech left no room for doubt that to the president, these relations ranked high on the list of the administration’s priorities. President Obama made it clear that he rejected the approach of his predecessor, George W. Bush, towards the...
Abu Mazen visited Russia from January 26 to January 28, 2010, as part of a round of meetings that included visits to Germany and Britain (his previous visit to Russia took place in April 2008). During the visit Abu Mazen met with President Medvedev and other officials (Moscow Mayor Luzhkov, Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce Primakov, Chairman of the Russian Central Bureau of Statistics Stepashin, the Patriarch of the Russian Church Kirill, the chief of Russia’s Council of Muftis Ravil Gainutdin, and the mufti of Kazan, Gosman...
The book, which continues the annual Strategic Balance series, includes thirteen analytical essays written by INSS researchers. The focus is on developments in the internal, regional, and internaional arenas that shape Israel’s strategic environment and the strategic options before it. Special emphasis lies on the Middle East as it adjusts to a new US administration and a newly-elected Israeli government.
The goal of concluding principles for a permanent Israeli-Palestinian settlement by the end of 2008 was announced in November 2007 at the Annapolis Conference. Sponsored by the US administration, the conference convened to draft a framework for dialogue between Israel and the Fatah-headed Palestinian Authority (PA), and a timetable for its completion. Disagreements about core issues of the conflict, however, remained unsolved. In addition, the split in the Palestinian arena, which delayed the institutionalization of the PA as the...
