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Israel Policy Forum promotes active U.S. engagement to achieve a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace and security for Israel with the Palestinians and the Arab states.
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In late May, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat announced that the PA had completed preparatory legal work to join “63 different UN agencies, conventions and treaties” and would move forward with the planned onslaught at the UN General Assembly in September if talks were not underway by then. Shortly thereafter, the European Union raised the specter of ICC prosecutions against Israel, saying the EU would support a Palestinian appeal to the ICC if negotiations failed to get off the ground due to continued settlement construction.
Israel’s public position—that the outcome of the election is meaningless, and that we must not fall into wishful thinking and reformist facades, but rather should put Iran to tough tests—leaves [Israel] alone in the face of the world’s cautious optimism.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie applauds Secretary Kerry's message that the current status quo is unsustainable and that we must move forward on the diplomatic process. He emphasizes that the American Jewish community has a key role to play in this conflict.
"The incredulity gap poses a serious hurdle for Secretary Kerry. If the people do not believe a two-state solution is plausible, they will not actively push for it. And as President Obama made clear, without strong stakeholder engagement, there will be no pressure on political leaders to return to the negotiating table, nor remain there if the talks do take place."
"It’s still too soon to declare that the West Bank is now on the verge of imminent collapse, or that the reforms Fayyad instituted will certainly or quickly come undone."
Unsurprisingly, it didn't take Israelis and Palestinians long before they declared with conviction that US Secretary of State John Kerry's first "shuttle" trip to the region failed. Conditions are "unacceptable" and the "obstacles are too big." And this is before either was asked to do the fundamentally reasonable thing: compare maps delineating the two-state model.
The eventual implementation of the two-state solution is simply too important to Israel’s long-term security and future as a Jewish and democratic state for Israel to sit by idly, passively looking on as the prospects for establishing two states slip away. Instead, Israel should capitalize on its extraordinary economic, political and military advantages over the Palestinians to take the lead where the PA falls short.
The PA has recently been facing mounting pressure at home to go to the ICC. From the Fatah youth movement, to Palestinian academics, to Al Arabiya broadcasts, a chorus of voices has been urging the PA to go to the Court, chastising Abbas for failing to do so already. “Israel’s injustices are bad enough,” wrote one Al Arabiya columnist, “but not utilizing the means to effectively counter and end them"—i.e., going to the ICC—"is even worse.” He concluded with a call for a national protest movement to spur the PA into action.
"The Palestinians are right. The solution is obvious. Even a child can understand it. The question is whether you have the courage to stand behind it..."
"Even if they do not admit it and provide other explanations for their feelings about Obama, Obama’s true great sin in the eyes of many Israelis is that he thinks that Israel is a normal country," writes Alon Pinkas in Yedioth Ahronoth.