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Does Israel Have a Partner for a Two-State Deal?

[bitterlemons.org] Yossi Alpher - Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas recently discussed their 2008 negotiations with the American press, in interviews in the Washington Post on May 29 and Newsweek of June 13, respectively. In examining this negotiating experience for clues as to future chances of success, we see that Abbas chose to interpret whatever statement of empathy Olmert made about the refugees as acceptance of the right of return, while Olmert understood he was saying the opposite and rejecting the right of return. Abbas looked at an offer of virtually the entire territory of the West Bank, internationalization of the disputed holy sites in Jerusalem, and (according to him) the right of return, turned it down and said "the gaps were wide." Can we be blamed for suspecting that we really do not have a partner for a two-state deal? Abbas is about as moderate as the Palestinian leadership gets. Olmert proved to be about as moderate as the Israeli leadership gets. I myself would not have offered as much. The chances of a successful two-state breakthrough in the near future were definitely reduced by Abbas' statements. The writer is former director of the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv University.
2009-07-01 06:00:00
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