Israel's Ambassador: Peace is Possible With Direct Talks

If you find yourself getting distracted by the noise around the conflict, it is useful to read a Michael Oren article to remind yourself of the basics. The added bonus is that the ambassador can write! Here are some reminders from his most recent piece about the need for direct talks.

1. While Israel continues to help build the Palestinian economy and eases up on check-points, Palestinian leadership needs to help build a framework for co-existence:

Palestinian leaders must also prepare their people for peace by promoting co-existence and removing calls for Israel's destruction from public television and textbooks. Palestinian leaders must also prepare their people for peace by promoting co-existence and removing calls for Israel's destruction from public television and textbooks

2. Efforts at peace need not be distracted by the settlements:

The emergence of these communities did not stop Israel from achieving peace with Egypt and Jordan or from negotiating with the Palestinians for 16 years. Settlements account for less than 2% of the West Bank land and will not prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state.

3. The point of peace negotiations is to negotiate:

The Palestinians have been attempting to end-run the peace process by seeking recognition for statehood from foreign countries. But such actions not only violate previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, they merely prolong the conflict.

4. The goal is, in fact, to make peace between two countries -- the Jewish State and the Palestinian:


..we need to resolve the Palestinian refugee claims within the context of a Palestinian state, just as more than 600,000 Jewish refugees from Arab lands were resettled in Israel. We have to secure the reciprocal recognition of the Jewish and Palestinian nation-states...

5. Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.


Israel will insist that its capital, the spiritual heart of the Jewish people for more than 3,000 years and a model of religious freedom under Israeli governance, will remain undivided. This was the policy of Israeli leaders going back toYitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir. But we understand that the Palestinians hold different positions on Jerusalem and that they will bring them to the negotiating table.