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Attempting to Solve the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
(Cipher Brief) Gary Grappo - Although the two-state solution may still remain the best starting position for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and ultimately the most viable outcome, neither the U.S. nor any other nation should pre-judge this direction. Only face-to-face negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis can determine that. The new U.S. administration should resist any effort to internationalize the conflict. Imposing a solution or even conditions inevitably favors one side over the other, which will doom any chance of a negotiated settlement. This conflict can only be solved by the unavoidably difficult compromises that both sides will need to make within the context of face-to-face negotiations. Quiet diplomacy in advance tends to produce more successful open diplomacy down the road. There is a real question about whether current Palestinian leadership can credibly and competently represent the interests and needs of the Palestinian people. According to Palestinian polls, about two-thirds demand the resignation of PA President Mahmoud Abbas. Despite billions of dollars in foreign aid from the EU, U.S. and other donors, the PA has little economic development to show for it. The writer, former U.S. ambassador to Oman, is a Fellow at the Center for Middle East Studies at the Korbel School for International Studies, University of Denver.