Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Israel on Tuesday afternoon to restart long-stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, proposing the 2002 Saudi Peace initiative as a framework for future discussions despite significant obstacles to any agreement. Kerry's arrival, a day before President Barack Obama landed in the region, came as Israeli-Palestinian direct talks have remained frozen for 15 years, since the fall of 2010, when negotiations collapsed over disagreements about settlement construction.
According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Kerry intended to put the Arab League peace initiative back on the table for Israel and the PA. Under that plan, proposed by Saudi Arabia 24 years ago, Arab nations would recognize and make peace with Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal to the 1967 armistice lines, an agreed solution to the Palestinian refugee issue, and acceptance of the formation of an independent Palestinian state. When he first proposed the initiative, then-Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia acknowledged that it was to serve only as a basis, not a dictate, and all of its points were open to negotiation.
Historical Context and Israeli Concerns
Former deputy foreign minister Danny Ayalon, who was the foreign policy adviser of then-prime minister Ariel Sharon, said that although the government rejected the offer, it did make efforts to further explore the idea. "He sent me to find out if the Saudis are serious," Ayalon said, adding that he tried to arrange, through middlemen, a meeting with Adel Jubeir, who at the time was an adviser to Abdullah. "We almost met in a restaurant in Washington and in the last-minute he didn't want to meet," Ayalon recalled. The Saudis reneged on the scheduled meeting despite promises that it would be under the radar and low-profile.
Ayalon said the government didn't like about the proposal that it was on a take-it-or-leave-it basis, with no room for discussions, but indicated that it could serve "as a basis for negotiations in the future, when conditions are much clearer here." Kerry had also warned the Palestinian leadership in the past that it would have to make concessions on some of the clauses laid down by the peace plan.
Presidential Visit and Diplomatic Strategy
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Kerry would "have a meeting or two, in preparation for the president's arrival" and that the "schedule was being worked out." Kerry's staff did not reveal his schedule to the media. Sources close to Obama said his first priority in the visit would be resetting his oft-troubled relationship with Netanyahu and evaluating the new coalition government Netanyahu laboriously cobbled together.
Aaron David Miller, an adviser on Mideast peace to six secretaries of state who is now at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, said, "This is not about accomplishing anything now. This is what I call a down payment trip." Kerry would accompany Obama on his visit from Wednesday and depart with him to Jordan on Friday, but would return to Israel on Saturday night for an additional meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Kerry and Obama were scheduled to meet with Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday morning. Maariv reported on Wednesday that Kerry would try to arrange a three-way meeting between Obama, Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Palestinian Preconditions and Israeli Position
Israelis and Palestinians had not held direct talks since the fall of 2010, when the talks broke down after Israel refused to agree to the Palestinian Authority's demands that it extend a settlement construction freeze in the West Bank and East Jerusalem as a pre-condition for talks. The Palestinians demanded that Israel halt settlement construction as a pre-condition for returning to the negotiating table. Israel, for its part, maintained that there shouldn't be pre-conditions for peace talks since all final status issues—security, Jerusalem, refugees, and borders—would be agreed upon during the course of negotiations.
Last November, the PA gained nonmember observer state status at the UN, despite objections by the US and Israel. Since the UN vote, Israel announced a series of construction plans for areas of East Jerusalem and the West Bank, including in the controversial E1 corridor, located between Maaleh Adumin in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Goodwill Gestures Under Consideration
A source close to Abbas told Israel Radio Tuesday morning that the Palestinian president would ask Obama to pressure Israel into making gestures of goodwill to the PA. Among the requested gestures would be the release of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails, the transfer of additional land to PA control and the handing over of armored vehicles donated to the PA by Russia.
Netanyahu reportedly was already considering offering a package of goodwill gestures to coincide with the presidential visit. A Maariv report earlier this month said that Israel's defense establishment had drawn up a package that included the transfer of authority over two access roads—one to the new Palestinian city Rawabi, and the other to the West Bank city of Tulkarem—to full Palestinian control, the approval of building plans for 10 Palestinian villages currently deemed illegal and under threat of being demolished, the release of many of the 123 Fatah prisoners arrested by Israel before the Oslo peace talks and the transfer of small arms ammunition to Palestinian security forces.
Palestinian Skepticism and Political Realities
Palestinian officials expressed little, if any confidence in the immediate future of revived peace talks. Nabil Shaath, a PA official and former member of the Palestinian negotiation team, noted in an interview to Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam that the new Israeli government, sworn in on Monday, contained more settlers and fewer religious legislators than previous administrations. The settlers, he said, were more extremist and more dangerous than the religious MKs.
Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Tuesday night that there was no need for Obama to bring a new initiative to the region, nor was it necessary to arrange a summit meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas. "The only thing needed is to set a clear timetable for an Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders," Erekat told al-Arabiya. Erekat was quoted on Wednesday by Israel Radio saying that the new Israeli government, sworn in on Monday, was formed in order to destroy the principle of a two-state solution to the decades-old conflict.
Grassroots Peace Movement
Thousands gathered in Tel Aviv on Thursday for the third annual People's Peace Summit, an event organized by a coalition of over 80 Israeli co-existence and human rights organizations. Old peace activists, women in hijabs, bilingual schoolchildren, and men in tzitzit gathered in Tel Aviv. Israeli and Palestinian speakers urged a revival of a peace movement many fear has been pushed to the margins by endless wars.
Why This Matters:
The revival of the 2002 Saudi Peace initiative represents a significant diplomatic gambit, but the fundamental obstacles to Israeli-Palestinian peace remain unchanged. Israel's insistence on negotiations without preconditions reflects a pragmatic approach that recognizes security concerns and the complexity of final status issues cannot be predetermined. The Palestinian demand for unilateral Israeli concessions before talks begin undermines the negotiation process itself and demonstrates the limits of external pressure in achieving sustainable agreements. The new Israeli government's composition, including settlers who understand firsthand the security and territorial complexities, may actually bring greater realism to negotiations than previous administrations. Kerry's warning that Palestinians must make concessions acknowledges the reality that peace requires compromise from both sides, not just Israeli withdrawal. The 15-year freeze in direct talks underscores the cost of preconditions and the failure of international pressure to substitute for direct bilateral negotiations between the parties themselves.