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In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

09/04/08
From Zero-Sum to Win-Win  —Mara Rudman, adviser, Middle East Progress; senior fellow, Center for American Progress. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
09/04/08
How Progress Is Possible  —
08/07/08
How to Deal with Jerusalem  —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Two-State Solution Still Best Option

“In practical terms, we can reach two conclusions: First, a final-status agreement, although its details are known, cannot be secured in the foreseeable future. Second, the time has come to think about other solutions. One of them is a return not to the 1967 borders, but rather, to the reality that prevailed in 1967, when Jordan controlled the West Bank.”
—Major General (ret.) Giora Eiland, “The Jordanian Option,” YNet, September 3, 2008 versus
  • "On both sides of the green line and, indeed, wherever people think about solutions to the Israeli- Palestinian conflict, a lot of old/new thinking is taking place. … Most of these ideas are patently unrealistic. Discussion of them often reflects despair, not pragmatic strategic thinking. … Precisely because there is no such alternative, other options more readily suggest themselves, ranging from temporary conflict management to three states or entities. Nor does failure today mean that tomorrow we cannot try again to arrive at a two-state solution, which remains the best option for all."
    —Yossi Alpher, coeditor of the bitterlemons family of internet publications & former director, Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, Tel Aviv University, "One State Definitely Not an Option," bitterlemons.org, August 18, 2008

    • Middle East Analysis

    • How Progress Is Possible —Hiba Husseini, chair, Legal Committee to Final Status Negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis; former vice chairperson of the Palestine Securities Exchange (1998-May 2005). Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
    • Perils of an Israeli Transition —The New York Times, Editorial
    • The Arabs Will Look Differently Upon America —Ron Pundak, director general of the Peres Center for Peace and former architects and negotiators of the Oslo Agreement (bitterlemons.org)

    Foreign Ministers: Time to Move Forward

    July 30, 2007

    Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

    The Egyptian, Jordanian, and Israeli foreign ministers spoke at a press conference after their July 25 meeting in Jerusalem:

    "The Arab peace initiative [is] the consensus of all the Arab member states of the Arab League, including the Palestinian Authority… to engage in serious negotiations with Israel, in order to achieve a final such settlement between the Israelis and the Palestinians in establishing an independent Palestinian state and offering Israel the security that it needs. The initiative also means that we need to achieve comprehensive peace – that means peace on all tracks, on the Syrian-Israeli track, on the Lebanese-Israel track, to reach a comprehensive peace."
    –Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Aboul-Gheit

    "Military means have not brought an end to the despair and hopelessness and injustice among people of this region that has resulted from the absence of peace; nor has it eliminated extremism. The time has come for genuine peace; peace that resonates with Palestinians and with Israelis and with all the people of the region. Now, more than ever before, people need to see results. And these results mean independence for the Palestinian people, security for Israel, and a future of hope for all of us."
    –Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdelelah al-Khatib

    "I believe that this is an historic visit to Israel – it is a formal visit, it is a formal visit, following my formal visit to Cairo and our previous meeting. This is the first joint visit to Israel of members of the Arab Working Group established by the Arab League and I believe that this point in time is a crucial point in time, and there is an opportunity here. .. I want to make it clear that we are not looking for stagnation - the policy of the Israeli government is that stagnation is not an option."
    –Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni