Obama’s Detailed Plans for Mideast Peace Revealed - and How Everything Fell Apart
7 replies, posted
[URL]http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.794292[/URL]
[QUOTE]Haaretz has obtained two previously unseen documents from the height of the Obama administration’s efforts to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict, which reveal how the talks fell apart in 2014.
They could offer U.S. President Donald Trump, who is currently trying to get the two sides to renew direct negotiations, some valuable lessons on what happened the last time the conflict’s core issues – such as borders, Jerusalem, refugees and mutual recognition – were put on the table.
They also show the exact language that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was willing to accept on the issue of the 1967 borders during the negotiations, and how far the Obama administration was willing to go on the delicate and sensitive issue of Jerusalem in order to try and get a “yes” to its peace plan from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
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[IMG]http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.794322.1496841161!/image/2832183996.jpg_gen/derivatives/fullscreen_310xAuto/2832183996.jpg[/IMG]
The article is currently behind Haaretz's (free) subscription/paywall.
More here (crap source, I know, but it quotes the much better Haaretz article):
[URL]http://dailycaller.com/2017/06/07/new-documents-reveal-how-obamas-middle-east-peace-negotiations-collapsed/[/URL]
[QUOTE]The documents, [URL="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.794292?=&utm_content=%2Fisrael-news%2F.premium-1.794292&utm_medium=email&utm_source=smartfocus&utm_campaign=newsletter-breaking-news&ts=_1496844280904"]obtained[/URL] by Israeli news outlet Haaretz, are dated from mid-February and March 15, 2014. At this time, the Obama administration was in the midst of attempting to secure a peace deal between the two parties. What resulted was a complete [URL="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-palestinian-israel-usa-idUSBREA301ZE20140402"]collapse[/URL] of the peace process, which lasted throughout the end of Obama’s tenure.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]The March document’s language contained important language changes, including the addition of a statement which said the goal of the negotiations was “to end the occupation that began in 1967” after the Six Day War. The second document also stated that a permanent agreement will have to “provide for both Israel and Palestine to have their internationally recognized capitals in Jerusalem, with East Jerusalem serving as the Palestinian capital.” Specific areas of interest, like religious sites and Jewish neighborhoods would be addressed in final negotiations.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]“Abbas was always afraid of saying yes to something, only to then discover that Bibi [Netanyahu] doesn’t accept it. He was afraid of being blamed by his opponents of selling out the Palestinians in return for nothing,” a former U.S. official told Haaretz.[/QUOTE]
tl;dr: Netanyahu was willing to make a deal, even going as far as negotiating on Jerusalem, but Abbas refused.
too bad netanyahu turned more right wing after 2014. this is at least more than trump can ever hope for
So Abbas gets a great deal in 2008 and 2014, decides to refuse both and [I]Israel[/I] is the one who is the "obstruction to peace"?
Well, if at first you don't succeed...
[URL="http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-1.789524"]http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-1.789524[/URL]
[QUOTE]But here’s where all similarities end. The two presidents may have shared the same goal, but so far, Trump is going about achieving it in exactly the opposite way that Obama did. And as crazy as it may sound, on this issue at least, Trump’s haphazard approach may actually have more chance of success than Obama’s. After decades of fruitless engagement, all the American by-the-book diplomacy in the region has failed to yield results. Trump’s unique style of diplomacy will at least make a change.[/QUOTE]
[URL="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.793178"]http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.793178[/URL]
[QUOTE]The Allen plan, which was written by dozens of U.S. officers and experts over a period of many months, was never presented to the public, and most of its contents have remained secret, even after the Obama administration’s 2013-2014 peace talks fell apart. Former officials advised the new administration to dive into the plan’s details, since if Trump’s wish to hold Israeli-Palestinian negotiations became serious, he would sooner or later need a robust plan to provide security for Israel in the aftermath of an agreement.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Svinnik;52326674]So Abbas gets a great deal in 2008 and 2014, decides to refuse both and [I]Israel[/I] is the one who is the "obstruction to peace"?[/QUOTE]
Most of the Middle East sees the only acceptable agreement being Israel ceasing to exist.
Yeah right.
[QUOTE=ScumBunny;52326689]Well, if at first you don't succeed...
[URL="http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-1.789524"]http://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/.premium-1.789524[/URL]
[URL="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.793178"]http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.793178[/URL][/QUOTE]
Your articles are paywalled, is there another source for those?
[QUOTE=Wizards Court;52326823]Your articles are paywalled, is there another source for those?[/QUOTE]
Sorry. They were open when I posted them.
They'll probably become open again later. In the meantime try these:
[URL="http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/25/trumps-plan-for-middle-east-peace-could-actually-work/"]http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/05/25/trumps-plan-for-middle-east-peace-could-actually-work/[/URL]
[URL="http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-team-looks-to-obama-era-west-bank-security-plan-report/"]http://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-team-looks-to-obama-era-west-bank-security-plan-report/[/URL]
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