Face-to-Face Negotiations in September 2010: What Will They Talk About?

JINSA
Report #: 1,016
20 August '10

The announcement has been made that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Abu Mazen will come to Washington for "face to face negotiations." It is worth remembering that precisely 10 years ago President Clinton invited then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Yasser Arafat to a summit at Camp David. Mr. Barak was bringing a very far-reaching proposal - so much so that in fact that he wasn't sure he could sell to the Israeli public if Arafat accepted it. But after what appeared to be an ill-planned and hasty IDF departure from the Lebanese "Security Zone," he hoped to bring home an agreement with the Palestinians.

In a moment of wisdom, or at least of extreme practicality, Yasser Arafat tried mightily to get out of attending. It wasn't the right time, he said. He objected to holding a meeting of the principals (Clinton, Barak and himself) when there was no guarantee of success. The time to hold a summit, he opined, was when everything had already been done, and it hadn't been done. And he was, for once, right.

The crucial issues in 2000 were:

Jerusalem;

The Palestinian demand for a "right of return" for refugees and their descendants to places in Israel from which the original refugees claim to have come;

Territorial compromise, and;

Agreement on the legitimacy of Israel's sovereignty in the region, which was also called an "end to the war" and termination of future claims.

(Read full report)

If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.
.