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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 versus
  • “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

    A Comprehensive Strategic Approach

    January 30, 2008
    “The problem is not the absence of a peace agreement or contract or a proposal. There is no peace because there isn’t among the Palestinians…a partner who is willing and able to bring his nation to peace…I suggest we take a different path. I suggest we take the path of economic peace – that is a corridor to a possibility of political peace further down the line…it creates the conditions to ripen the climate, the economic peace can and should prevent the creation of terrorist hotbeds.”
    --Benjamin Netanyahu, Leader of the Israeli opposition and former Prime Minister, Herzliya Conference, January 21, 2008

  • “[N]egotiations on permanent status agreement must be perceived as an extremely important component of a comprehensive strategic approach, which also includes components of providing [the Palestinians] with an economic horizon, and right containment of Gaza and Hamas, and rally international support and assistance, and also gaining Arab and Muslim legitimacy to the sacrifices the Palestinian partner has to make. And also, apply gradually components of regional peace into the process itself.”
    --Ambassador Avi Gil, former Director-General of Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Senior Strategic Advisor at the Center for Middle East Peace and Economic Cooperation; speech at a Geneva Initiative conference titled An Agreement within a Year, January 13, 2008 (translated by Middle East Bulletin)