People have asked me what I think about the chances for the current talks to succeed. The following article explains some of my thinking on the question.–Yours, Hillel
… if this round of talks ends in the same manner as the Camp David 2000 talks, with a total breakdown and mutual recriminations, it may represent the last opportunity to achieve a realistic two-state solution.
Ten years ago, one of the major failures of the Camp David talks was the fact that they ended without any joint declaration, and with no statement of progress from the American hosts. Although President Clinton asked adviser Dr. Aaron David Miller to draft such a statement of progress when the talks ended without an agreement, the combined opposition of Prime Minister Barak and President Arafat to the publication of such a statement caused Clinton to back down.
Hopefully a formula for continuing the talks will be found. But if the talks collapse because of an Israeli unwillingness to extend the settlement freeze scheduled to end next week, Palestinian terrorist actions or any other reason, it will be absolutely essential that the Americans issue such a “progress report” to serve as a benchmark and basis for the continuation of the negotiations.
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Click here to read the rest of my article at the Palestine-Israel Journal website.
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