At the Israeli Presidential Conference “Facing Tomorrow,” Prime Minister Ehud Olmert declared that real progress has been made in Israel’s talks with the Palestinian Authority. According to Olmert, “understandings and agreements regarding highly important matters have been achieved, though some issues are still outstanding.”
There have been some fundamental changes in the peace process over the last year. On the Syrian channel: After years of stagnation there are signs of activity through mediators. The Syrians declared that Israel has signaled that it would be willing to withdraw from the Golan Heights on certain conditions. What is taking place is still far from direct negotiations, and each side is suspicious of the other. On the Palestinian channel: While Israel conducts negotiations with Abu Mazen, the split in the Palestinian camp completely rules...
Negotiations toward a ceasefire in Gaza, mediated by Egypt and other channels, have been ongoing for some time. Now, however, Egypt’s efforts to convince Hamas and the other armed groups in Gaza to agree to a ceasefire while relinquishing some of their demands have borne fruit. The Egyptian minister of intelligence, Omar Suleiman, came to Israel to urge the government to accept Egypt’s proposal for a six month ceasefire. Israel must decide whether such a ceasefire would harm Israel’s broader interests, and whether...
During her visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority in early March, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke about activating the trilateral mechanism headed by US General Charles Frasier to monitor the fulfillment of the Roadmap obligations of both sides. American officials explained that the Administration has not given up hope of reaching agreement on the core issues in the conflict but that it is logical to focus now on a parallel improvement in the situation on the ground. If the reality does not change, they argued,...
The recent escalation of the military confrontation in the Gaza Strip dramatizes the need to consider alternative strategies in the face of the Gaza challenge, and to choose a strategy that can offer the best chance of achieving the desired objectives.
When Hamas broke down the wall separating the Gaza Strip from Egypt on the night of January 22-23 and masses of Palestinians rushed to the Egyptian side to buy goods and enjoy the taste of freedom, the pictures and declarations in the international media created the impression that this was an event of far-reaching significance, similar to the fall of the Berlin Wall. Israeli reactions ranged from the opinion that this was a crushing Hamas victory over the Israeli government’s siege policy through deep concerns about the...
During his visit to Israel this month, President George W. Bush laid out his updated approach to an Israeli-Palestinian settlement. In a statement delivered at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, Bush fleshed out his vision of “two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” on the eve of negotiations over “core issues” between delegations of the two parties.
Although it was not represented at Annapolis, Hamas had a significant role in paving the way to the meeting. Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip was clear evidence of the growing strength of the militant Islamist stream in the Palestinian camp, and it was therefore perceived as a threat. However, that development also sharpened the distinction between those Palestinians who accept the idea of a two-state solution and the opposition still committed to total liberation from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea, and it was...
According to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli-Palestinian relations can be divided into two distinct historical phases: pre-Annapolis and post-Annapolis. The last few weeks of the pre-Annapolis period were marked by frenzy of speculation about what the meeting was intended to produce and what its chances of success were. Most of this speculation rested on a very weak foundation of fact, but analysts frustrated by the fog of pre-meeting uncertainty could at least console themselves with the hope that it would...
Over the last few weeks Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) have conducted political discussions meant to culminate in a joint declaration according to the Israeli approach, or in an agreement on principles according to the Palestinian approach. Underlying this process are first and foremost Olmert’s and Abu Mazen’s shared interests. Both leaders feel the need to demonstrate some progress in the international meeting scheduled to take place in the US in November....
President Bush’s initiative to convene an international meeting in November on the Israeli-Palestinian track has given a new boost to the Israeli-Palestinian dialogue. This follows the dynamic created by Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in June this year. The key question now is whether these stimuli can pull the cart of Israeli-Palestinian relations out of the bog in which it has been stuck since the end of 2000.
According to some observers, the phoenix of Jordanian-Palestinian confederation seems to have risen from the ashes. Discussion of this issue has revived following the crisis in the Palestinian Authority which peaked with the violent takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas. That crisis has deepened the Israeli-Palestinianimpasse because it manifested the Palestinians’ inability to advance toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and aroused some nostalgia for the days before the Palestinian national movement moved to...
