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The Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process Over Time the Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process Over Time Grafic Desing and Print: Merav-Dascalu Publishing Ltd The Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process over Time The Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process over Time The Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process over Time Table of Contents Preface from the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue .................................................................................................................................. 2 Preface by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel ................................................... 3 The Diplomatic Process between Israel and the PLO from the Madrid Peace Conference until Today - The Israeli Positions on Four Core Issues: Borders, Security, Jerusalem and Refugees Shaul Arieli ......................................................................................................................................................................... 4 This publication was made When Concessions Are Not as Painful as Projected possible through the generous support of the Elias Zananiri ................................................................................................................................................................. 32 Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Israel. We thank the FES for its continued cooperation. An Unfulfilled Promise: The Historic Role of the United States in the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process The opinions expressed Dan Rothem ..................................................................................................................................................................... 68 in this publication do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Friedrich- The Strategic Conditions for Resolving Ebert-Stiftung and/or of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Netanya Academic College. Ephraim Lavie ............................................................................................................................................................... 88 The commercial use of the publications of Friedrich- Ebert-Stiftung or of Netanya About the Authors ............................................................................................................................................. 100 Academic College without written approval is strictly prohibited. December, 2014 © All rights reserved ISBN Number: 978-965-92408-0-7 Scientific Editing:Dr. Ephraim Lavie Translation and copy editing: Sandy Bloom, Elie Friedman, Judith Stelmach Photography: The Government Press Office, photographers: Amos Ben- Gershom, Avi Ohion Imagebank, Thinkstockphotos AP Images 1 The Israeli-Palestinian Diplomatic Process over Time Preface from the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue After the onset of Secretary of State John Kerry’s diplomatic effort in the summer of 2013, we came to realize that there are two primary obstacles to the success of the peace initiatives: Most of Israeli society did not believe that the initiative would succeed. At least part of the skepticism was due to the fact that the public was largely unaware of the growing diplomatic rapprochement between the sides in the course of the earlier negotiations on the core issues. Israel demanded that the negotiations be held “without preconditions” instead of resuming the negotiations where they left off under Prime Minister Olmert. This negatively impacted on Palestinian confidence regarding Israel’s consistency in resolving the core issues. In light of this, the S. Daniel Abraham Center’s steering committee came to the conclusion that Israeli society, and especially Israeli policy-makers and public-opinion leaders, are in need of a document that would sketch all the rounds of negotiations between the State of Israel and the PLO, from the early 1990s through Secretary of State Kerry’s initiative of 2013-14. Such a document would serve as a basis for understanding the past and promoting diplomatic advancement in the future. In the fall of 2013, we turned to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung with whom we worked with in the past on the Palestinian issue and other topics, in order to collaborate in this important project. In light of the importance of the project, FES Israel Office Director Dr. Werner Puschra and FES Project Manager Judith Stelmach decided to significantly support the project’s implementation. We thank the FES for its cooperation, support, joint planning and for making the project feasible. At the beginning of 2014, we approached three researchers and asked each one to analyze a specific angle of the diplomatic process. We asked Mr. Elias Zananiri, political and media consultant who has followed the political process for many years, to analyze the Palestinian positions in the course of the various negotiations. We asked Colonel (ret.) Shaul Arieli, researcher of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict who served as head of the Negotiating Administration in former Prime Minister Ehud Barak's office, to analyze the Israeli positions over the years. We also asked Mr. Dan Rothem, senior research consultant in the Washington-based S. Daniel Abraham Center for Peace in the Middle East, to examine American mediation over the years. This project was the last research venture to be initiated by Dr. Reuven Pedatzur, former director of the center, who met an untimely death in a car accident in April 2014. Reuven was supposed to serve as the project’s scientific editor and also contribute the closing summary section which would analyze the researchers’ chapters and propose operative suggestions on the basis of the study. After Reuven’s tragic death, we decided to move ahead with the project in spite of the tragic circumstances. We approached our colleague and friend, Colonel (ret.) Dr. Ephraim Lavie, Director of the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research at the Tel Aviv University, and asked him to serve as the scientific editor of the project. We know that Reuven would have agreed with this choice. Dr. Lavie consented and, despite the very short time-frame involved, took on the role as scientific editor. He also contributed a very important chapter to the project, in which he discusses the conclusions of the researchers and offers operative recommendations to policy makers. We thank Ephraim Lavie for his willingness to assume such a project under unfortunate circumstances; his work involved numerous meetings with the researchers and many hours of devoted, cooperative work with them. We hope that this publication will demonstrate the significant diplomatic rapprochement that has been reached by the sides in the core issues since the 1990s. We hope that this work will serve as an important tool for decision- makers in future attempts to reach a permanent agreement with the Palestinians. We offer our heartfelt thanks to Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, researchers and scientific editor who contributed greatly to the success of the project. Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Ephraim Sneh Mr. Elie Friedman Chair Project Manager S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue Netanya Academic College Netanya Academic College 2 Preface by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel When Dr. Reuven Pedatzur, of blessed memory, and Elie Friedman from the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Strategic Dialogue at Netanya Academic College came to see us at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Israel and suggested this research project, our first reaction was disbelief that such an analysis had not been done before. The fact that ever since 1991 Israel and the Palestinians have been engaged in countless rounds and types of negotiations without reaching an agreement until today, virtually cries for a thorough investigation of the process, and even more for knowledgeable advice. The publication at hand presents three perspectives of the same process: the Israeli, the Palestinian, and the American. The papers show the changes in approach and understanding which took place over time in the negotiating teams, but also among the American mediators. They also show how on some issues the negotiating parties managed to reach a broad understanding, while on other issues the differences remained. But the two main conclusions to be drawn from the analysis at hand are: During all these years the parties largely failed to see things through one another’s eyes, and therefore, were unable (if not unwilling) to understand the necessities of one another. The parties set out to negotiate without having the ultimate objective in mind, namely reaching a lasting peace agreement with the result of two independent, sovereign states living side by side peacefully as a strategic goal. Under these circumstances we must not wonder about the disappointing outcome. Dr. Reuven Pedatzur, who has been a friend and a partner to the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung for many years and untimely passed away in April 2014, was a critical voice motivated by his profound love for and loyalty to his country, about whose future he was deeply concerned. This research project was especially important to him, hoping that its results will help to find new paths in the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians which will eventually lead to lasting peace between the two peoples and to prosperity for all. The latest hostilities between Israel and the Hamas, the terrible pain and grief on both sides, the hopelessness on both sides are another proof for the necessity of a real solution of the conflict – better sooner than later. We at the FES Israel share Dr. Pedatzur’s aspirations and hope that the publication at hand will contribute to a better understanding of the mistakes and misunderstandings of the
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