1. As far as Israeli-Arab peace is concerned, you should act
from day one.
2. Israeli elections are due to take place in February 2009. You
can have an indirect but important and constructive impact on the outcome by
announcing your unequivocal determination to achieve Israeli-Palestinian,
Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-all-Arab peace in 2009.
3. Unfortunately, all your predecessors since 1967 have played a
double game. While paying lip service to peace, and sometimes going through the
motions of making some effort for peace, they have in practice supported our
governments in moving in the very opposite direction. In particular, they have
given tacit approval to the building and enlargement of Israeli settlements in
the occupied Palestinian and Syrian territories, each of which is a landmine on
the road to peace.
4. All the settlements are illegal in international law. The
distinction sometimes made between "illegal" outposts and the other settlements
is a propaganda ploy designed to obscure this simple truth.
5. All the settlements since 1967 have been built with the
express purpose of making a Palestinian state – and hence peace – impossible, by
cutting the territory of the prospective state of Palestine into ribbons.
Practically all our government departments and the army have openly or secretly
helped to build, consolidate and enlarge the settlements – as confirmed by the
2005 report prepared for the government (!) by lawyer Talia Sasson.
6. By now the number of settlers in the West Bank has reached
some 2,50,000 (apart from the 2,00,000 settlers in the Greater Jerusalem area,
whose status is somewhat different). They are politically isolated, and
sometimes detested by the majority of the Israeli public, but enjoy significant
support in the army and government ministries.
7. No Israeli government would dare to confront the concentrated
political and material might of the settlers. Such a confrontation would need
very strong leadership and the unstinting support of the president of the United
States to have any chance of success.
8. Lacking these, all "peace negotiations" are a sham. The
Israeli government and its US backers have done everything possible to prevent
the negotiations with both the Palestinians and the Syrians from reaching any
conclusion for fear of provoking a confrontation with the settlers and their
supporters. The present Annapolis negotiations are as hollow as all the
preceding ones, each side keeping up the pretence for its own political
interests.
9. The Clinton administration, and even more so the Bush
administration, allowed the Israeli government to keep up this pretence. It is
therefore imperative to prevent members of these administrations from diverting
your Middle Eastern policy into the old channels.
10. It is important for you to make a complete new start and to
state this publicly. Discredited ideas and failed initiatives – such as the Bush
"vision", the "road map", Annapolis and the like – should be thrown into the
junk yard of history.
11. To make a new start, the aim of American policy should be
stated clearly and succinctly. This should be: to achieve a peace based on the
two-state solution within a defined time span (say by the end of 2009).
12. It should be pointed out that this aim is based on a
reassessment of the American national interest in order to extract the poison
from American-Arab and American-Muslim relations, strengthen peace-oriented
regimes, defeat al-Qaeda-type terrorism, end the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and
achieve a viable accommodation with Iran.
13. The terms of Israeli-Palestinian peace are clear. They have
been crystallised in thousands of hours of negotiations, conferences, meetings
and conversations. They are:
13.1. A sovereign and viable state of Palestine will be
established side by side with the state of Israel.
13.2. The border between the two states will be based on the
pre-1967 armistice line (the "Green Line"). Insubstantial alterations can be
arrived at by mutual agreement on an exchange of territories on a 1:1 basis.
13.3. East Jerusalem, including the Haram al-Sharif ("Temple
Mount") and all Arab neighbourhoods will serve as the capital of Palestine. West
Jerusalem, including the Western Wall and all Jewish neighbourhoods, will serve
as the capital of Israel. A joint municipal authority, based on equality, may be
established by mutual consent to administer the city as one territorial unit.
13.4. All Israeli settlements – except any which might be joined
to Israel in the framework of a mutually agreed exchange of territories – will
be evacuated (see para 15 below).
13.5. Israel will recognise in principle the right of the
refugees to return. A Joint Commission for Truth and Reconciliation, composed of
Palestinian, Israeli and international historians, will examine the events of
1948 and 1967 and determine who was responsible for what. Each individual
refugee will be given the choice between (1) repatriation to the state of
Palestine (2) remaining where he/she is living now and receiving generous
compensation (3) returning to Israel and being resettled (4) emigrating to any
other country, with generous compensation. The number of refugees who will
return to Israeli territory will be fixed by mutual agreement, it being
understood that nothing will be done that materially alters the demographic
composition of the Israeli population. The large funds needed for the
implementation of this solution must be provided by the international community
in the interest of world peace. This will save much of the money spent today on
military expenditure and direct grants from the US.
13.6. The West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip
constitute one national unit. An extraterritorial connection (road, railway,
tunnel or bridge) will connect the West Bank with the Gaza Strip.
13.7. Israel and Syria will sign a peace agreement. Israel will
withdraw to the pre-1967 line and all settlements on the Golan Heights will be
dismantled. Syria will cease all anti-Israeli activities conducted directly or
by proxy. The two parties will establish normal relations between them.
13.8. In accordance with the Saudi peace initiative, all member
states of the Arab League will recognise Israel and establish normal relations
with it. Talks about a future Middle Eastern Union, on the model of the EU,
possibly to include Turkey and Iran, may be considered.
14. Palestinian unity is essential for peace. Peace made with
only one section of the people is worthless. The US will facilitate Palestinian
reconciliation and the unification of Palestinian structures. To this end, the
US will end its boycott of Hamas, which won the last elections, start a
political dialogue with the movement and encourage Israel to do the same. The US
will respect any result of democratic Palestinian elections.
15. The US will aid the Government of Israel in confronting the
settlement problem. As from now settlers will be given one year to leave the
occupied territories voluntarily in return for compensation that will allow them
to build their homes in Israel proper. After that all settlements – except those
within any areas to be joined to Israel under the peace agreement – will be
evacuated.
16. I suggest that you, as president of the United States, come
to Israel and address the Israeli people personally, not only from the rostrum
of the Knesset but also at a mass rally in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square. President
Anwar Sadat of Egypt came to Israel in 1977 and, by addressing the Israeli
people directly, completely changed their attitude towards peace with Egypt. At
present most Israelis feel insecure, uncertain and afraid of any daring peace
initiative partly because of a deep distrust of anything coming from the Arab
side. Your personal intervention, at the critical moment, could literally do
wonders in creating the psychological basis for peace.
December 6, 2008