MUCH More MADNESS ; As goes the cliche, the Palestinians want a state without a real process and Israel wants a process without a real agreement. And as goes the sister-cliche, the maximum Israel can offer does not meet the minimum the Palestinians demand.
So simple, so tragic.
This is not some line from The Idiot's Guide to Middle East Pessimism (third edition). This has been reality for the last four years.
Both cling to a self-delusional concept that "time is on our side." Both endorse the misleading perception that the other side "is not a real partner." Both, effectively, have not been asked to pay a price for the absence of a process, so why interfere with the status quo? Both are driven by fears (understandable), mistrust (nurtured) and a self-defeating calculus of cost-effectiveness of engaging in a process.
The composition of the new government is such that it precludes a real process, as do Palestinian demands. It is incumbent on Israel and the Palestinians to come up with some game-changing, paradigm-shifting formula that would satisfy both and allow the United States to provide diplomatic assurances and cover, as well as deliver other countries.
Obama definitely will say all the right things about the need, inevitability and urgency of the two-state model as the only guarantee of Israel remaining a Jewish democracy and the Palestinian fulfilling their aspirations.
But he knows he cannot come up with a plan unless the two sides decide they want one; right now, they may not want one.
Ambassador Alon Pinkas was Israel's consul general in New York, adviser to Shimon Peres and chief of staff to Ehud Barak and Shlomo Ben Ami. He is currently a fellow at the Israel Policy Forum (IPF).
MUCH More MADNESS ; As goes the cliche, the Palestinians want a state without a real process and Israel wants a process without a real agreement. And as goes the sister-cliche, the maximum Israel can offer does not meet the minimum the Palestinians demand.
ReplyDeleteSo simple, so tragic.
This is not some line from The Idiot's Guide to Middle East Pessimism (third edition). This has been reality for the last four years.
Both cling to a self-delusional concept that "time is on our side." Both endorse the misleading perception that the other side "is not a real partner." Both, effectively, have not been asked to pay a price for the absence of a process, so why interfere with the status quo? Both are driven by fears (understandable), mistrust (nurtured) and a self-defeating calculus of cost-effectiveness of engaging in a process.
The composition of the new government is such that it precludes a real process, as do Palestinian demands. It is incumbent on Israel and the Palestinians to come up with some game-changing, paradigm-shifting formula that would satisfy both and allow the United States to provide diplomatic assurances and cover, as well as deliver other countries.
Obama definitely will say all the right things about the need, inevitability and urgency of the two-state model as the only guarantee of Israel remaining a Jewish democracy and the Palestinian fulfilling their aspirations.
But he knows he cannot come up with a plan unless the two sides decide they want one; right now, they may not want one.
Ambassador Alon Pinkas was Israel's consul general in New York, adviser to Shimon Peres and chief of staff to Ehud Barak and Shlomo Ben Ami. He is currently a fellow at the Israel Policy Forum (IPF).
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