Strategic Assessment

The accounts by participants in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians on a permanent agreement seem to reinforce the claim that to date, Palestinian demands do not reflect any shared political horizon with Israel. Indeed, what more can the Palestinians be offered than the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 lines, as Prime Ministers Barak and Olmert already proposed to Arafat and Abu Mazen? The door for peace must remain open, but from today’s perspective, absent a common political horizon for a permanent resolution, Israel must make do with partial solutions. Mindful of both domestic needs and international partners, Israel must outline a political position (borders, for example) that it will not undermine, while at the same time not expand settlement areas beyond the separation fence, making it possible at some point to realize the two-state solution. Israel must help create socioeconomic prospects for the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, while for its part, the Palestinian Authority must stop propaganda and incitement in the schools, as this is a platform for terrorism and an obstacle to a common political horizon.