Obama: Last Chance to Rectify Your Israeli-Palestinian Peacemaking Failures

The election-inauguration window only happens once for every president. Reagan used it to recognize the PLO in 1988, and Clinton for his parameters for peace in 2000. Will Obama follow suit?

Yossi Beilin Oct 30, 2016

It is no secret that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is seriously concerned that President Obama may make a "bold" step to jumpstart the non-existent Israeli-Palestinian peace process in the twilight of his administration, after the November 8 elections and the January 19th inauguration. 

This "no strings attached" window of opportunity has been used before: by the Reagan administration to recognize the PLO in 1988, and by the Clinton administration to issue the "Clinton Parameters" for peace in December 2000. Both moves were harshly rejected by the Israeli right.

Will Obama follow these precedents? He has given out conflicting signals. If the U.S. were to decide not to veto a UN Security Council resolution against continued settlement building may be positive in itself, but it isn’t enough to stop this dangerous process. Another UN resolution initiated by European or Arab states that could refer to an outline permanent solution but does not add new elements would will be even more redundant, especially when we know that Netanyahu is not ready to pay the already known price of a permanent agreement. 

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http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-1.749867