The new Israeli government led by Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu has raised many conflicting feelings among those concerned about the fate of the Arab-Israeli peace process. Will Netanyahu scuttle the little progress that was made under his predecessor Olmert, or will he engage the Palestinians anew?
With the changing political and demographic dynamic between Israel and the Palestinians and the advent of a new American administration, a new government in Israel and Palestine and a renewed push of the Arab Peace Initiative, an Israeli-Palestinian peace can be reached. The question now is will all these forces coalesce to drive for a peace agreement now which has eluded them for decades.
One of the most momentous declarations to come out of the
Arab world since Israel's inception in 1948 is the Arab Peace Initiative, launched in March 2002 in Beirut, Lebanon, and re-adopted by the Arab League in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in March 2007. It would be tragic to allow the Initiative to languish as it offers a solid promise for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.
The collapse of the coalition negotiations between Likud Leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Kadima's Tzipi Livni over Netanyahu's refusal to commit to the two-state solution may force him to form a narrow-based right-of-centre government. Such a government is likely to impede any progress or end up disintegrating under domestic and American pressure to make important concessions for the peace process.
The result of the Israeli elections on February 10th expressed clear sentiments of the public's weariness of the political process and deep cynicism about the campaigning leaders.
To make serious progress toward a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, George Mitchell must first work on restoring confidence in a peace process that years of havoc and destruction have all but destroyed.
From his first Middle East tour as President Obama's special envoy, George Mitchell must have found that not much has changed since his 2001 report. During his previous mission on the origins of the Second Intifada, Mitchell concluded that ending the Israeli settlement activity and violence are intertwined and remain the core impediment to meaningful negotiations.
The recent appointment of George Mitchell as special envoy to the Middle East is no doubt a positive sign of President Obama's commitment to the region, signaling that there will be immediate and direct American involvement in the Arab-Israeli peace negotiations.
In the wake of the Gaza war questions are being raised about the prospect of a two-state solution and whether or not this lofty idea was berried in Gaza. Many seem to forget that the Gaza war as much as it was tragic it might just have provided a rude awakening to a majority of Israelis and Palestinian about the futility of continuing the conflict.