(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Makovsky and Dennis Ross - Having the international community impose the parameters of a solution regarding Israel and the Palestinians is ill-advised. If the past is any indicator, the international effort will lack balance. Principles that Palestinians seek will be concrete, while those addressing Israeli concerns will be left vague - borders and Jerusalem will be spelled out for the Palestinians, while the details behind security and refugees will be left for future negotiations. Calls for getting Netanyahu and Abbas in a room and waiting for white smoke sound good in theory, but the gaps between them are too wide and their mutual distrust is too deep, making any such talks a certain failure. David Makovsky is director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute. Dennis Ross, the Institute's counselor, served as White House senior Middle East advisor in 2009-2011.
2016-06-01 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive