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September
2002 - JPL helped organize a letter to President Bush from prominent
Israelis. Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami, former Chief
of Staff of the Israeli Army Amnon Lipkin-Shahak, and Professor Yuli Tamir
(all three ministers in the government of Ehud Barak) wrote President George
W. Bush, asking for the United States to lead the international community in
developing a permanent-status solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
and then encouraging the parties to accept it.
There is
solid and stable support for such an approach from Israeli Jews, and
public-opinion research from the Steinmetz Center at Tel-Aviv University
points to that fact: in September 2002, the Steinmetz Center released a poll
showing that some 67% of Israeli Jews support an active American effort to
formulate a detailed peace agreement for the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict,
and then for the US to recruit international support to convince both
parties to accept this agreement. In April of this year, 65% of Israeli
Jews said they supported an international peace conference that would
formulate a binding agreement, provided it is accepted by both sides.
The
rationale for this kind of approach is spelled out in considerable detail in
a report recently published by The International Crisis Group (ICG), “Middle
East Endgame: A Comprehensive Proposal for an Arab-Israeli Peace
Settlement.” Robert Malley directs the ICG Middle East Program and Itamar
Rabinovich, former Israeli Ambassador to the US and Chief Negotiator with
Syria, is an ICG board member.
Clearly,
Israelis are disenchanted with current US policy. There are two levels of
request from Israel – from the Israeli public and from three top
Israelis taking the lead in writing to President Bush.
It is highly
unusual within Israel for public figures of this stature to make such a
request of an American president. Ben-Ami, Lipkin-Shahak, and Tamir are not
calling for the United States to act as mediator and renew negotiations;
rather they are requesting a more directive US foreign policy.
This letter
from influential Israelis, the data on Israeli public-opinion, and the
report from the International Crisis Group show that there is a growing
convergence that something new and different is needed from the United
States. |
The Letter to President George W. Bush from Shlomo Ben-Ami, Amnon
Lipkin-Shahak, & Yuli Tamir
"Former Ministers Invite Intervention" -- Akiva
Eldar (Ha'aretz)
"President Bush Must Intervene & Offer a Peace Settlement"
--Itamar Eichner (Yediot Aharonot)
Go to JPL's
Externally Directed Separation Initiative
For more public
opinion research & analysis from JPL
Recommended Reading |
