|
May 2003 -
As the Administration releases its Road
Map for Middle East Peace, 100 American Rabbis have written to President
Bush and Members of Congress proposing a much more vigorous American
policy.
The “Road Map” in many ways re-cycles the Oslo
Process. In its final phase, which is to occur two years from now, it
simply calls on both sides to negotiate the final status issues (borders,
settlements, Jerusalem, refugees, security). The Rabbis call for a very
different approach, for the US to no longer rely upon bi-lateral
negotiations, and instead for the US to without delay, place on the table a
detailed American plan for ending the conflict.
In support of their proposal the Rabbis cite a
letter to President Bush from former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo
Ben-Ami, former head of the Israeli Defense Forces Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and
former Absorption Minister Yuli Tamir which advocated this approach. They
note that polls show that 2/3 of the Israeli public would like the US to put
forward its own substantive plan for resolving the conflict.
Jerome M. Segal, President of the Jewish Peace
Lobby, which organized the Rabbis’ letter, notes that “the Sharon
government is now calling on the Administration to amend the Road Map so
that it addresses a key final status issue, the right of return, at the
outset. This is totally one-sided, but quite correct in its understanding of
the need to address final status issues sooner rather than later, if the
Road Map is to have any chance of success. What is needed now are mutual
Palestinian concessions on right of return, balanced by Israeli concessions
on Jerusalem and territory/settlements.”
Segal
points out that “it is very unlikely that any Palestinian leadership will
undertake the serious, sustained attack on terrorist organizations that
Israel demands, if all they can promise their public is that in two years
the Sharon government will sit down to begin negotiations on final status
issues.” |
The Letter to President Bush from 100
American Rabbis
The Letter to President George W. Bush from Shlomo Ben-Ami, Amnon
Lipkin-Shahak, & Yuli Tamir
For more public
opinion research & analysis from JPL
Recommended Reading |
