"Nothing is Agreed until Everything is Agreed": The Israeli-Palestinian Dialogue

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 authorized representative for promoting a settlement, undermined the possibility of infusing the dialogue with practical content. The confrontation between Israel and Hamas, which escalated towards the end of 2008, likewise diverted attention from the political process, and its effect on the Israeli political system and the Palestinian theater cast doubt on the continuation of the dialogue outlined at Annapolis. The task thus facing Israel’s new leadership and the PA is to focus on management of the conflict while striving to preserve the continuity of dialogue, despite the constant tension in the security sphere.