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Journalism of Courage
Expressing frustration over the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process despite the best of the efforts of the US,Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday asked the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to stop blaming each other and show their commitment to peace.
“To demonstrate their commitment to peace,Israeli and Palestinian leaders should stop trying to assign blame for the next failure,and focus instead on what they need to do to make these efforts succeed,” Clinton said at the Brookings Institution’s Saban Center for Middle East Policy Seventh Annual Forum.
“And to demonstrate their commitment to peace,they should avoid actions that prejudge the outcome of negotiations or undermine good faith efforts to resolve final status issues,” she said.
“Unilateral efforts at the United Nations are not helpful and undermine trust. Provocative announcements on East Jerusalem are counterproductive. And the United States will not shy away from saying so,” Clinton said.
“America is serious about peace. We know the road forward will not be easy. But we are convinced that peace is both necessary and possible. So we will be persistent and press forward. We will push the parties to grapple with the core issues,” she said.
Clinton,who earlier in the day held talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders,said to have a credible negotiating partner,each side must give the other the room,the political space to build a constituency for progress.
“Part of this is recognizing that Israeli and Palestinian leaders each have their own domestic considerations that neither side can afford to ignore. It takes two sides to agree on a deal and two sides to implement a deal. Both need credibility and standing with their own people to pull it off,” she argued.
“So this is also about how the leaders prepare their own people for compromise. Demonizing the other side will only make it harder to bring each public around to an eventual agreement,” Clinton noted.
“By the same token,to build trust and momentum,both sides need to give the other credit when they take a hard step. As we begin to grapple with the core issues,each side will have to make difficult decisions,and they deserve credit when they do so. And it should not just be the United States that acknowledges moves that are made; the parties themselves must do so as well,” she said.
“To demonstrate their commitment to peace,Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas and their respective teams should take these steps. They should help build confidence,work to minimize distractions,and focus on the core questions,even in a period when they are not talking directly,” Clinton said.
“As a political figure,a Senator,and now as Secretary of State,I have seen what it takes for old adversaries to make sacrifices and come together on common ground. Unfortunately,as we have learned,the parties in this conflict have often not been ready to take the necessary steps. Going forward,they must take responsibility and make the difficult decisions that peace requires,” Clinton said.
“And this begins with a sincere effort to see the world through the other side’s eyes,to try to understand their perspective and positions. Palestinians must appreciate Israel’s legitimate security concerns. And Israelis must accept the legitimate territorial aspirations of the Palestinian people. Ignoring the other side’s needs is,in the end,self-defeating,” Clinton asserted.
