Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
After decades of failed negotiations, many argue that little that can be achieved in pursuing Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking right now. Yet parking the conflict or returning to the pre-Trump status quo ante could have serious implications not only for Israelis and Palestinians but also for the region and the United States. How can the U.S. administration do more by doing less and help reverse negative trends that are cementing occupation and inequality, while avoiding previous failed policies that have empowered anti-democratic forces in both Israel and Palestine?
Turkey is strongly condemning Israel for the attack Monday on a six-ship flotilla taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. The attack has dealt a very public setback to Israeli-Turkish relations, which have been slowly deteriorating for several years.
The attack on the flotilla headed for Gaza was not only a political catastrophe for the Israelis; it also underscored the tragedy of the situation in Gaza and the need for substantive progress to be made in the peace process.
Following U.S. pressure and a message of support from the Arab League, indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders are set to begin this week. In spite of U.S. efforts, however, the talks are unlikely to lead to a breakthrough.
While Israel is likely sympathetic to the idea of achieving a world without nuclear weapons, it remains agnostic about the prospects of a nuclear-free world and realistic about the complicated process.
The United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia have called for a freeze on all Israeli settlement activity, increasing the international pressure on Israel in the hopes of reinvigorating indirect peace talks.
An unprecedented war of words following Israel’s announcement of a new settlement in East Jerusalem during Vice President Biden’s trip to the Middle East threatens any hope of a successful outcome to the indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
The announcement of new construction in East Jerusalem that interrupted U.S. Vice President Biden’s trip to Israel to reinvigorate peace negotiations reflects the strained relations between Israel and the United States and how much remains to be done before Israeli-Palestinian negotiations can lead to real progress.
The collapse of U.S. diplomacy on the Israeli-Palestinian front has provoked predictably partisan sniping in Washington, with the Obama administration’s critics (and actually even some of its friends) charging it with incompetence.
Any effective U.S. diplomatic approach to Iran must involve other countries in the Gulf, but Washington will not succeed if it continues to strive for an anti-Iranian alliance. A normalization of relations between Iran and its neighbors is an important and attainable step for reintegrating Iran into the international community.
In the wake of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s announcement that he would not seek a second term, any further attempts at some form of peace process must not ignore a few basic realities about the settlements, Hamas, and Palestinian politics.