Israel: The Reaction to A "More Committed" Washington

Last Wednesday, its ambassador to Washington, Michael Oren, rebuffed Washington's "two-year time frame": "In the past, attempts to impose time frameworks have not proved either realizable or helpful."

For Oren, the framework of talks should include security for Israel, recognition of the nation as a Jewish state, and an end-of-claims conclusion to the talks. Oren said this would be "a statement of what Israel's goals are and what the Palestinians' goals are, even if the assumption is that they wouldn't be immediately confluent". Referring to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's statement following PM Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of a 10-month construction freeze , Oren stated that "these goals can be reconciled through good-faith negotiations."

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Clinton had said: "We believe that through good-faith negotiations the parties can mutually agree on an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the 1967 lines, with agreed swaps, and the Israeli goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognized borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israeli security requirements."

Palestine: The Reaction to A "More Committed" Washington

In an interview on Friday, Fatah Central Committee member and former security commander Muhammad Dahlan said that peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel will resume in the coming week.

Dahlan added that, following intense contacts among Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the Quartet (United Nations, Russia, European Union, and United States), Israel will accept the new proposal. He continued, "We hope the struggle of chairman Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) against the previous negotiating mechanism will bear fruit already in the coming weeks."

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When asked about demands before renewal of negotiations, Dahlan underlined the significance of a settlement freeze and the acceptance of pre-1967 borders. Dahlan said:

All we seek is a year or 10-month building freeze, during which a permanent agreement will be achieved. Palestinians will not accept any manipulation on this issue [final borders].

At the end of this "optimism", there was also a warning. Dahlan said, "The Palestinian people prefer to be cautious when it comes to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu," and he declared, "The current settlement [activity] in Jerusalem is aimed at taking it [the city's status] off the negotiating table".

Israel-Palestine Analysis: The Obama Administration Changes Approach

On Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton hosted Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh. At the press conference, Clinton tried a different tactic in address both Israel and Palestine, she suggested that resolution of the borders and the status of Jerusalem would break the deadlock on the settlements dispute, "Resolving borders resolves settlements, resolving Jerusalem resolves settlements. I think we need to lift our sights and instead of being looking down at the trees, we need to look at the forest."

Clinton and Judeh also stated that negotiations should begin as soon as possible and be bound by deadlines.
Judeh then echoed the US Secretary of State, "If you resolve the question of borders then you automatically resolve not only settlements and Jerusalem but you identify the nature on the ground of the two-state solution and (what) it looks like."

Clinton did not give any details regarding U.S. Mideast special envoy George Mitchell's so called "letters" guaranteeing both sides' demands, saying moreabout the general framework of the process:

There is a hunger for a resolution of this matter, a two-state solution that would rebuke the terrorists and the naysayers, that would give the Palestinians a legitimate state for their own aspirations and would give the Israelis the security they deserve to have.

This is a year of renewed commitment and increased effort towards what we see as an imperative goal for the region and the world.