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Conflict Management, Not Resolution: America's Role in Israeli-Palestinian Negotiations
(Huffington Post) Uzi Rabi - After nine months of fruitless negotiations, Israel and the Palestinians are back where they began. Israel has accused the Palestinian side of breaching its agreement to negotiate in good faith with Israel through American mediation. This follows an American effort that appears to be designed primarily to continue the negotiating process, rather than provide the structure for reaching a final agreement. As such, the U.S. appears to be in conflict management mode, not conflict resolution mode. Abbas continues to adhere to a phased approach by continuing to take what he can get. The marketplace bargaining over inducements to keep the negotiations going has nothing to do with the larger core issues. Thus, the American position may be shifting from resolving the conflict to simply managing it, where the priority is finding an interim method for avoiding another regional crisis. The writer is Director of Tel Aviv University's Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African Studies.