Re-Engaging the Israelis and the Palestinians: Why an American Role in Initiating Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations Is Necessary and How It Can Be Accomplished
Table of Contents
Author(s)
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Executive Summary
Key Findings
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Resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through meaningful, direct negotiations will require substantial U.S. engagement.
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Any successful American approach must clearly define a political horizon with Terms of Reference for an acceptable end state for both parties.
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The mechanism for conflict resolution necessitates a dual approach of “fast” and “graduated” negotiating tracks in which areas of sufficient agreement can be negotiated and implemented to facilitate agreement on longer-term issues.
- Regional and international support is essential for both parties and for the U.S. to resolve the conflict through an agreed upon monitoring and oversight structure.
Prevailing wisdom offers bleak prospects for renewed negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Political uncertainty, unilateral actions, and a general lack of trust have immobilized policymakers in both governments. However, the most important factor for reversing the current stalemated state of peace negotiations is serious American engagement in the issue.
There is no substitute for U.S. leadership in Israeli-Palestinian conflict resolution involving the president, secretary of state, and the top echelons of the national security team. Although both Israelis and Palestinians recognize that the status quo is untenable, the power imbalance between the parties remains too large for negotiation and agreement without substantial third-party intervention. Strong, sustained U.S. engagement can advance a comprehensive Israeli-Palestinian peace, but only through a diplomatic process that also reshapes the environment on the ground. The elements of such a plan and a possible framework are the focus of this report and are found in general terms below, and in greater detail in Section III.
Fundamental Concepts for Successful U.S. Engagement
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Clarify U.S. Terms of Reference (TOR) for negotiations toward an end state;
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Adopt the principle “what has been agreed upon shall be implemented” based on understandings between the parties, and with guarantees from the international community, that all measures implemented shall be without prejudice to remaining issues and subject to the TOR and rules of engagement of the negotiating process. The essence of this principle is to transform the economic, social, and security environment on the ground while working concurrently to achieve breakthroughs on permanent status issues; and
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Maximize regional and international support, building the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002 into a new international framework, and attempt to engage Hamas in accordance with the accepted framework for negotiations led by the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Five U.S.-Led Actions Toward a Peaceful Two-State Solution
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Announce American TOR for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, including principles for the end state and modalities to support the negotiations;
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Conclude parallel U.S.-Israeli and U.S.-Palestinian Memoranda of Understanding (MOU);
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Define and broker negotiations along a “fast” and a “graduated” negotiating track;
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Engage regional and international support through a new international group expanded from the Quartet (the United Nations, United States, European Union, and Russia); and
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Facilitate a monitoring and oversight structure for negotiations.
U.S. engagement should aim to achieve a comprehensive Palestinian-Israeli peace agreement as a first step toward achieving a broader Arab-Israeli peace, while reshaping realities on the ground. The parameters of the end state should be broad enough to allow buy-in from both parties and regional stakeholders, while at the same time be sufficiently defined to ensure breakthroughs and avoid a deadlock in negotiations. They should also be linked to the Arab Peace Initiative. The objective of the fast-track negotiations
in particular is to create positive developments on the ground and to lead to a more sustainable path at the negotiating table. Specific issue areas for fast-track agreements within each issue area are proposed below:
Economic Development
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Renegotiate the 1994 Paris Protocol to establish economic relations on the principle of two independent states.
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Develop tax and customs capability within the West Bank through expanded trade, border management, and infrastructure, including the development of transportation and energy links to ease the movement of people, goods, and services.
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Agree to joint approaches to the development of shared water resources and environmental concerns of both sides, enlarging Palestinian capacity and infrastructure.
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Cooperatively plan for developing natural resources and sewage, recycling, and desalination plants.
Territory, Borders, and Settlements
- As a result of mutual trust building, reach agreement that the quantity of territory included in the West Bank, Gaza, and Dead Sea territorial waters as defined by the 1967 lines will equal the amount of territory of the Palestinian state following land swaps with Israel equal in size and value.
- Identify and transfer territory in locations that both sides agree will be included within Palestinian borders.
- Identify territory that both sides agree will be included within Israeli borders, and prevent settlement expansion into territory that could be included in Palestinian territory as part of a final agreement. At the same time, Israeli officials should present in the graduated negotiating track a proposal to transfer territory that is equal in size and value to the Palestinian Authority (PA).
Security
- Expand Palestinian internal security capacities, particularly by constructing police stations, upgrading equipment, and developing the justice system.
- Assure Israeli security issues through an initial U.S.-Israel MOU.
Refugees
- Integrate the Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank into the existing system of municipalities and local councils. The PA should also work with Israel to identify refugee groups living in particularly hazardous conditions in their present areas of residence, such as in Lebanon, and facilitate their relocation to the West Bank based on special needs or humanitarian considerations.
Jerusalem
- Agree to realize two capitals for two states in Jerusalem on the basis of the 1967 border, while recognizing the principle that Jewish neighborhoods will become part of Israel and Palestinian neighborhoods will become part of Palestine.
- Form joint planning teams to prepare a Ten-Year Development Plan for the greater Jerusalem metropolitan area, emphasizing undisturbed access to and from the city and improving water supply, electricity, sewage, and drainage systems, as well as solid waste facilities and other key infrastructure.
- Reopen Palestinian institutions in East Jerusalem and halt Palestinian house demolition and displacement, reintegrate East Jerusalem with the West Bank, and allow for Palestinian development in the city and the establishment of a Palestinian municipality.
- Establish a committee for the coordinated management of the city, with particular attention to its holy sites.
Prisoners
- In support of the peace process, release Palestinian and Arab prisoners.
Moving From Conflict Management to Conflict Resolution
The question for U.S. policymakers is whether the United States should respond to challenges in the Middle East in a reactive manner as they emerge, or whether the U.S. should develop a more proactive strategy at a time of historic change in the Middle East. Central to this policy question is the role of the U.S. in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The two-state solution—viewed as the optimal solution by most observers—is recognized as the only viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rebuilding trust between the parties is integral to reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Strengthening the Palestinian state-building effort by expanding the political, administrative, security, and economic control of the Palestinian Authority over most of the West Bank territory is an achievable step in this direction, permitting substantial headway in the short term and paving the way for solving the outstanding core issues of the conflict. Without a resolution to the conflict in the near term, the material and political costs of implementing a future comprehensive agreement will be significantly higher, perhaps impossibly so. American policy advocating for a two-state solution requires the engagement of American leaders to move decisively toward a vision of Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security before that vision fades away forever.
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