Monday
Oct192009
Israel: Barak Repairing Position with US Government on Palestine Talks?
Monday, October 19, 2009 at 11:30
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On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on government officials to coordinate with the United States to renew talks with the Palestinian Authority: "We must work with the American administration and consolidate an agreement to open negotiations as soon as possible, even if the conditions aren't perfect and even if we have to make difficult concessions."
Although Barak's suggestion follows the recent, inconclusive trip of President Obama's special envoy George Mitchell to Israel and Palestine, it may be spurred even more by domestic political considerations. Barak is enjoying a favourable wind, as Minister Avigdor Lieberman and possibly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be in trouble with Washington over their resistance to US demands for a full settlement freeze in the West Bank. If the Labour Party's top politician sees this spilling over into discontent amongst Israeli voters, he may be willing to push his position against his coaliation partners.
Buy Us A Cup of Coffee? Help Enduring America Expand Its Coverage and Analysis
On Sunday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak called on government officials to coordinate with the United States to renew talks with the Palestinian Authority: "We must work with the American administration and consolidate an agreement to open negotiations as soon as possible, even if the conditions aren't perfect and even if we have to make difficult concessions."Although Barak's suggestion follows the recent, inconclusive trip of President Obama's special envoy George Mitchell to Israel and Palestine, it may be spurred even more by domestic political considerations. Barak is enjoying a favourable wind, as Minister Avigdor Lieberman and possibly Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may be in trouble with Washington over their resistance to US demands for a full settlement freeze in the West Bank. If the Labour Party's top politician sees this spilling over into discontent amongst Israeli voters, he may be willing to push his position against his coaliation partners.
Reader Comments (2)
Current trends seem to suggest that the future of Israel will be that of a binational state. While this is not something most Israelis want, even many conservatives Israelis have concluded it may be inevitable.
http://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/israel.html" rel="nofollow">http://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/israel.html
In an interview with Italian daily La Repubblica, Jordan's King Abdullah said the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the most serious threat to the stability of the region and the two sides only have a window of opportunity over the next year to make progress on creating a two-state solution, after which point the possibility of a Palestinian state will disappear as more Arab land gets swallowed up by Jewish settlements.
http://tinyurl.com/yhxoe9n
Combine that with this blog post on the future of Israel which examines the factors pointing to a trend away from a two-state solution and claims the window of opportunity for such an agreement may already now be closed.
http://watching-history.blogspot.com/2009/10/israel.html
Do the EA contributors on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict believe a one-state, bi-national solution may actually be what we end up with?