In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

08/07/08: How to Deal with Jerusalem —Lt. Col. (Res.) Ron Shatzberg, Project Director, Economic Cooperation Foundation. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
08/07/08: How to Deal with Jerusalem —
08/05/08: Why Did Maliki Call for a Timeline? —by Christopher Kojm who teaches at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and is a former senior advisor to the Iraq Study Group. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

Already Divided

“Even the Arab minority in the city has shown its preference for living under Israeli rule, as many have moved to the Israeli side of the security barrier being built around Jerusalem. Their choice is reasonable, as Jerusalem offers the quality of life of a modern western city while only a few kilometers away the norm is a third world standard of living, chaos and religious intolerance. An undivided Jerusalem is the best guarantee of a better life for all Jerusalemites.”
—Nathan Diament, Director of Public Policy, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, July 23, 2008

“Those who believe that Jerusalem should not be divided, and mean by that that the Arab neighborhoods should not be separated from the city, should be the first to insist that an active policy be adopted by the government and the municipality to improve the lot of local Arab residents. Barring that, Jerusalem will continue to remain a divided city.”
—Moshe Arens, former Israeli defense and foreign minister (Likud), “A Story of Neglect,” Haaretz, July 28, 2008

Middle East Analysis

Israel Releases 199 Palestinian Prisoners —
Significant Lebanese-Syrian Meeting Overshadowed by Bombing —
The Challenge of Jerusalem —Prof. Yaacov Bar-Siman-Tov, head, Jerusalem Institute for Israel Studies; professor of international relations, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.

Commitments to Act

June 20, 2007

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

In his meeting Tuesday with Prime Minister Olmert, President Bush promised to promote a common vision of two states living side-by-side in peace.

Olmert, for his part, told Bush that he wanted to make every possible effort to cooperate with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. He later specified that Israel would agree to a "more far-reaching" removal of checkpoints in order to increase Palestinian freedom of movement inside the West Bank; that the cabinet would on Sunday approve the release of tax revenues collected by Israel on the behalf of the Palestinian Authority; and that measures will be taken to bolster the forces loyal to Abbas

Before his meeting with Olmert, Bush had spoken with Abbas, who told Bush that this is the time to resume political negotiations, and described the steps he has taken to enable them, including swearing in an emergency Cabinet and outlawing Hamas’ militia forces.