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BICOM

Britain Israel Communications and Research Centre

Analysis

BICOM Briefing: The Israeli-Palestinian peace process in context

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Direct peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians will commence on 1 September in Washington. The official launch will mark the beginning of an intense negotiation process that will seek to solve the issues that stand at the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The following document surveys the key issues, provides a timeline of Middle East peace history and provides a closer look at the people who will lead the negotiations. It additionally provides a list of recommended specialists and relevant links to related material and resources.

The main issues of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations 

Borders and settlements

  • Israel has accepted in principle the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu endorsed the two-state solution during his foreign policy speech at Bar-Ilan University on 14 June 2009.
  • The Palestinians claim the West Bank and the Gaza Strip within pre-1967 borders for their state.
  • There is a broad consensus in Israel that the larger settlement blocs around Jerusalem and on key strategic points protecting Israel’s narrow coastal plain should remain part of Israel. The Clinton Parameters in 2000 and the unofficial Geneva Accords in 2003 accepted this principle and suggested some form of land swap whereby the new Palestinian state would receive other territory from Israel in return for the settlement blocs.
  • Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed similar principles, though there were gaps between the sides on how much land would be exchanged. The Palestinians also want territory within Israel to build a transport link that connects Gaza and the West Bank, and this could form part of an exchange deal.

For more information visit BICOM’s spotlight sections on the issue of borders or settlements.

Refugees

  • An Israeli-Palestinian peace deal will have to outline a solution to the question of Palestinian refugees of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and their descendants residing in Arab countries. Current estimates regarding the total number of refugees and their descendants range from 3.7 million to 4.6 million.
  • The Palestinians claim the right of return for all refugees to their homes in Israel. Israel does not see itself responsible for resettling the refugees and also notes that an approximately equal number of Jews fled or were expelled from Arab lands following the 1948 War of Independence and had claims against Arab governments.
  • No Israeli government will accept a solution that would allow millions of Palestinians to settle in Israel, as this would effectively spell the end of the Jewish majority and the viability of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state.
  • Israel proposed in previous negotiations that refugees be compensated with the help of the international community, and be resettled either in the new Palestinian state or in their country of residence. This is the principle of the two-states for two peoples.

For the legal aspects of the issue of refugees visit Dr. Ruth Lapidoth’s viewpoint paper.

Water

  • The Middle East has limited water resources. Israel currently depends on water resources in the West Bank for a significant portion of its water supply. Any peace deal will have to address both the allocation and management of water from the Jordan River and the underground aquifers in the West Bank.
  • The Mountain Aquifer, a renewable aquifer that is recharged by rainfall in the mountains of the West Bank, is the largest and highest quality source of water for both Israelis and Palestinians. While Palestinians have argued that Israel can desalinate seawater in place of the water that is taken from the mountain water aquifer basins, this is unfeasible for a number of reasons, and would still not solve the strategic problem of water security.

For more information on the issue of water, the Israeli government Water Ministry have produced a brief entitled ‘The Issue of Water between Israel and the Palestinians‘.

Security

  • Any deal to bring about Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank will have to address Israel’s legitimate security concerns. Israel will not be willing to allow the establishment of a military force in the West Bank or Gaza that could threaten Israel, and expects a future Palestinian state to be demilitarised with only an internal security force. It will further expect a future Palestinian state to act decisively to prevent terrorist attacks on Israel.
  • Israel’s recent experience of withdrawing from territory in the hope that it will bring peace has been very negative. After Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000, and from Gaza in 2005, it was subsequently attacked from both locations, in particular with rockets.

(map courtesy of Koret communications)

  • As the map illustrates, Israel has an extremely narrow waistline. Over 60% of Israel’s population is concentrated between the coastal plains of Tel-Aviv and the West-Bank, and would be threatened by rocket fire if militants obtained weapons; including Israel’s Ben-Gurion international airport, which is only four miles from the border of the West-Bank.
  • For this reason, Israel wants to maintain a military presence in the Jordan Valley in the initial period after the creation of a future Palestinian state to ensure the prevention of arms smuggling into the West Bank, as PM Netanyahu stated in his AIPAC speech on 22 March 2010. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said during an interview  with Charlie Rose on 10 June 2010, he would be willing to accept the presence of a third party, such as NATO, but would not accept ‘one Israeli to remain on Palestinian territory’.

For more information on the issue of security visit Col. Richard Kemp’s Issue Brief on West Bank security.

Jerusalem

  • Both Israelis and Palestinians have a very strong religious, historical and political attachment to Jerusalem and both claim it to be their capital. Particularly sensitive are the Old City and its religious sites.
  • If Palestinian demands to return to pre-1967 borders were taken literally, it would result in the re-division of the city and the loss of Israeli sovereignty over the Old City, which is something that most Israelis would not be willing to contemplate.
  • Both the Clinton Parameters and the Geneva Accords proposed a solution whereby Arab neighbourhoods of the city would come under Palestinian sovereignty and Jewish neighbourhoods under Israeli sovereignty, with some form of shared sovereignty over the Old City.

For different perspectives on Jerusalem visit the Munk Centre for International Studies discussion document.

Peace Process timeline

For more resources visit BICOM’s timelines section.

Key Individuals involved in direct negotiations

George Mitchell, Special Envoy to the Arab-Israeli peace process

  • George Mitchell is a US Democrat with a long distinguished career in the service of peace.
  • From a negotiating point of view, Mitchell brings a wealth of experience to the table; from 1995 to 2000, Mitchell played a critical role in the Northern Ireland peace process serving as the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland.
  • Mitchell also has a background in the Middle East. From 2000, Mitchell led an American fact-finding commission initiated under President Bill Clinton. The commission’s report, entitled The Mitchell Report, was first published in 2001. It stressed the need for Israel to halt the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip and for Palestinians to prevent violence.
  • On 22 January 2009, President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton appointed Mitchell as the administration’s Special Envoy to the Arab-Israeli peace process.

Yitzhak Molcho, Chief Israeli Negotiator

  • Israel’s negotiation team will be led and co-ordinated by Attorney Yitzhak Molcho.
  • Yitzhak Molcho is often described as being within PM Netanyahu’s ‘inner circle’, accompanying Netanyahu on many foreign visits, conducting negotiations during proximity talk and fulfilling the role of external diplomatic advisor.
  • On 27 June 1996, Yitzhak Molcho was one of the first people early on in Netanyahu first termto meet PLO leader Yassir Arafat in Gaza. Molcho, during Netanyahu’s first term, went on to play a leading role in subsequent negotiations with the Palestinians, including in the Hebron Protocols and The Wye River Memorandum.
  • During Netanyahu’s second term Molcho has also been to London and Washington as part of Israel’s negotiation teams that met with US Envoy Mitchell.

Saeb Erakat, Chief Palestinian Negotiator

  • Saeb Erakat is considered part of the moderate wing of the Palestinian leadership; he supports the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, and in the past has been described as pragmatist towards negotiating with Israel.
  • Erakat has been the long-time chief negotiator with Israel. He was first appointed to the position by Yasser Arafat in 1993 during the Oslo peace process.
  • Erekat has served as a senior Palestinian negotiator in most peace talks with Israel, including at Madrid, Wye River, Hebron, Camp David and Taba.

For more information on key individuals in the Peace Process visit BICOM’S biographies section.