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Journalism of Courage
To break the cycle of failure,the Israeli-Palestinian peace process must be reinvented
The resumption of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians after three years must count as a hopeful moment and a success,for now,for US Secretary of State John Kerry. Successive US presidents and secretaries of state have tried and failed to resolve the Middle Easts most entrenched conflict. As a result,both Israeli and Palestinian expectations from Kerrys efforts are low. Critics have dubbed Kerrys mission a fools errand at a time when Egypt is deep in political crisis,the Syrian civil war far from over,Iran yet to come clean on its nuclear intentions,the Middle East fractured by the growing Shia-Sunni divide and the US reducing its presence in the region.
Neither Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in a position to tackle the larger issues. Abbas has no say in Hamas-ruled Gaza; Netanyahu depends on his far-right cabinet colleagues. Kerry,Netanyahu,Abbas and former US ambassador Martin Indyk,whos at the helm of the talks,know that time is running out for the two-state solution. But if the cycle of failure since the 1993 Oslo Accords is to be broken,the peace process must be reinvented,which calls for America to be both pragmatic and creative.
