Israel Faces Battles on Many Fronts, but Prospects for Peace Remain

By Gilead Sher

In March of this year Israelis will go to the polls. With critical talks on Iran's nuclear program nearing an uncertain finalization and with evolving tensions along Israel's northern border, voters will have a great deal to consider when casting their vote.
However, when it comes to Israel's most persistent challenge with Palestine, despite all the recent instabilities in the Middle Eastern region, a multilateral path to peace between Israelis and Palestinians still remains.
Amid Iran's threats to retaliate over the death of General Mohammed Allahdadi, other regional and global fronts are of no lesser concern. The collapse of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Operation Protective Edge in Gaza and, most recently, the Palestinian cynical attempt to charge Israeli officials with war crimes at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have sent Israelis and Palestinians into a debilitating spiral of actions and reactions. Any remaining trust has been eroded.
However, while these events unfolded, so did significant geopolitical shifts in the Middle East, some of which may be providing Israel with opportunities for change. A tough stance against Hamas is led by Al-Sisi's Egypt and supported by the leaderships of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. A shared set of interests held by Israel and several moderate Arab states is also brought to the fore in the fight against radical Islamic terror - namely, Islamic State - and fear of a militarily nuclear Iran.
Israel can be viewed as a silent partner, supporting the cause and providing intelligence as part of the strategic cooperation between Jerusalem and Washington. Common regional threats could be an impetus for bettering relations; they necessitate cooperation in security arrangements at the very least.
The regional approach is growing in popularity among Israeli cabinet ministers and ex-officials. In November 2014, 103 former military generals, police commissioners and Mossad chiefs called on Benjamin Netanyahu to initiate peace talks with moderate Arab countries and address the Arab Peace Initiative (API).
The API, which was initially proposed in 2002 by the late Saudi King Abdullah and endorsed by the Arab League, marked a development in the Arab states' "Three No's" approach of the Khartoum Resolution - no peace, no diplomatic recognition and no negotiations with Israel. It seeks to end the Arab-Israeli conflict and offers normalizing the relations with Israel in exchange for Israel's complete withdrawal from what it considers occupied territory and an agreed settlement of the Palestinians refugee issue.
On closer inspection, however, no Israeli leader could be expected to concede to all its demands. Nonetheless, the initiative does demand an Israeli official response.
A number of recent Palestinian counterproductive unilateral legal measures, on the other hand, are hindering the chance of resolution. The Palestinians are waging an intensive political-legal battle, delegitimizing Israel with UN resolutions, the establishment of commissions to investigate Israeli military actions and appeals to international judicial institutions, most notably the ICC.
European governments are symbolically recognizing Palestine as a state, despite the lack of an Israeli-Palestinian negotiation process, let alone a peace agreement. A Palestinian-Jordanian proposal to the UN Security Council calling for Palestinian statehood in the 1967 borders and for an end to the occupation within two years fell just one vote short of a majority.
The Palestinians have firm footing on the combined legal-political-media strategic offensive and Israel must be prepared to act creatively to counter growing delegitimization against it on that same battlefield. As the Palestinian quest for statehood through unilateral measures appears to just be gaining momentum, Israel must simultaneously push for achieving an end to the conflict - otherwise a settlement could be imposed upon it by the international community.
A new paradigm of negotiations in tandem with constructive independent steps is required. It should comprise a regional dialogue within the scope of the Arab Peace Initiative and bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, thus conveying commitment to eventually reaching an end of conflict. Constructive independent Israeli steps, such as a gradual withdrawal from Palestinian territories to a border encompassing only the large settlement blocks, should also pave the way for a two-state reality.
After all, the two-state solution is the only vehicle for securing Israel's future as a Jewish democracy and establishing a viable Palestinian state. But we need determination, initiative and a new paradigm to achieve this. And following the latest rounds of bloodshed, we need to replace the prevailing despair and hate with hope and trust within and between both peoples.

To the full article - click here