Ramallah looks like a boomtown. The West Bank economy continues to grow at a robust 11 percent, fuelling a Palestinian desire for normal life after a decade of intifadah-inspired suffering. There is no appetite for a return to violence among West Bank Palestinians; a sentiment that appears to be shared by their counterparts in Gaza, where the easing of Israel’s closure holds hope for a new beginning. Strangely, the Gaza flotilla crisis seems to have bolstered the sense among the West Bank leadership that it is time to try to strike the deal with Israel. …
In Israel, the public mood is in flux. …The Israeli public also knows the price for peace with the Palestinians … Until now, Israelis have shown little interest in pressing their leaders to make that deal. They felt there was “no partner” on the Palestinian side, so there was no point. But that was before the advent of an American president who defined the U.S. national interest as requiring a settlement of the Palestinian problem. And that was before their government bungled the interception of a flotilla bearing aid for Gaza, triggering a wave of international condemnation. … [A]s they contemplate their circumstances, the public is becoming impatient. They sense that their ship of state is no longer on an even keel. … [Israelis are] wondering whether dependence on deterrence and force alone is enough to secure their future. Perhaps their prime minister needs to take the diplomatic initiative?
That is certainly what his more moderate advisers are urging on Netanyahu. President Shimon Peres, Defense Minister Ehud Barak, and Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor, feel that Israel can no longer remain stalled and on the defensive even though they have a good deal of sympathy for Netanyahu’s political circumstances. They are all convinced that he must find a common way forward with President Obama. Last week’s White House meeting was critically important in that regard because Netanyahu seems to have succumbed to their arguments and proposed a series of gestures toward the Palestinians that should be sufficient to generate direct negotiations and perhaps avoid another argument about extending the settlements moratorium when it expires in September. Did he also indicate to Obama that he knows what he has to do on West Bank territory? If the President’s effusiveness after their one-on-one meeting is any indicator, he may well have done so. …
In summary, Israel is now focused on the Palestinian issue, there is public support for a diplomatic initiative, and Abu Mazen also seems ready to engage in direct negotiations. Even in the Middle East, a crisis can sometimes produce an opportunity. Access the full article>>
