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WaPo oped on JK's middle east peace efforts
Thought this David Ignatius piece might interest folks:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/david-ignatius-a-new-road-map-to-middle-east-peace/2013/05/27/b6cbf8ca-c6f5-11e2-9245-773c0123c027_story.html
Some excerpts:
Secretary of State John Kerry’s cardinal rule in trying to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has been that he won’t talk publicly about the details, so it’s difficult to know how he’s doing. But he’s still hard at it, and he seems to be employing some modest variations on the traditional choreography of Middle East shuttle diplomacy.
. . .
Kerry knows all the reasons why this new peace effort could fail. Yet he’s back in the region this week on his fourth visit in the last two months, and diplomatic observers say he’s surprisingly close to getting the parties back to the table.
How has Kerry addressed the challenge that has defied so many of his predecessors? He and his staff won’t discuss tactics, but you can sense some of his starting points: Rather than waste time haggling over a formal settlement freeze or other confidence-building measures, he got both sides to make unannounced concessions. The Israelis have refrained from making inflammatory announcements about new settlements, and the Palestinians have held back from taking their cause to the United Nations.
. . .
“He wants to convey to people in the region how peace would improve their daily lives,” explained one Kerry adviser. The economic package is not meant as a substitute for a final-status agreement, as Palestinians fear, but to “underscore the desirability of peace.”
Kerry has one unlikely advantage in the frustrating, obstacle-strewn search for an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He knows what it’s like to fail at something big in life in his unsuccessful 2004 Democratic presidential campaign — and to stay in the arena for one more try at achieving greatness.
. . .
Kerry knows all the reasons why this new peace effort could fail. Yet he’s back in the region this week on his fourth visit in the last two months, and diplomatic observers say he’s surprisingly close to getting the parties back to the table.
How has Kerry addressed the challenge that has defied so many of his predecessors? He and his staff won’t discuss tactics, but you can sense some of his starting points: Rather than waste time haggling over a formal settlement freeze or other confidence-building measures, he got both sides to make unannounced concessions. The Israelis have refrained from making inflammatory announcements about new settlements, and the Palestinians have held back from taking their cause to the United Nations.
. . .
“He wants to convey to people in the region how peace would improve their daily lives,” explained one Kerry adviser. The economic package is not meant as a substitute for a final-status agreement, as Palestinians fear, but to “underscore the desirability of peace.”
Kerry has one unlikely advantage in the frustrating, obstacle-strewn search for an Israeli-Palestinian peace. He knows what it’s like to fail at something big in life in his unsuccessful 2004 Democratic presidential campaign — and to stay in the arena for one more try at achieving greatness.
Comments are also worth checking out (at least the first few that are currently at the top). Some samples:
NeverL84aD8:
God bless John Kerry for his efforts in this
sanfran6003
It would be a monumental achievement if Kerry can bring this off. The package he is proposing will benefit all parties to the negotiation. A peace treaty, after some 60 years of wars and on-and-off negotiations, would seem to be an impossible goal, but the time may be right this time. Israel has the incentive of a comprehensive normalization of relations with the Muslim world; the Palestinians, statehood and a generous economic package with the promise of more to come. Good luck Mr. Kerry and Godspeed.