Thoughts on the Start of Israeli-Palestinian "Proximity Talks"

Daniel Pipes
10 May '10
Cross-posted from
National Review Online

U.S.Middle East Special Envoy George Mitchell issued a statement confirming that the first round of "proximity talks" began yesterday between the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority. Here follow some reflections on what Mitchell calls "serious and wide-ranging" discussions and I call a counterproductive but important development:

Counterproductive because not only will these talks fail to achieve any of Mitchell's three goals – "to enable the parties to move to direct negotiations," that "will result in a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," and lead to "a comprehensive peace in the Middle East" – but they render a resolution of the conflict more difficult and more distant.

Important because the "peace process" will drive everything else, even the Iranian nuclear bomb buildup, to the sidelines and it has major implications for everyone involved.

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