In-Depth Coverage

Original Commentaries

12/11/08: Toward Resolution —President of Israel Shimon Peres. Interview with Middle East Bulletin.
11/25/08: U.S. Engagement with Iran: A How to Guide — Karim Sadjadpour, associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
11/20/08: Pakistan: Learning the Right Lessons from Iraq —Senator Robert P. Casey, Jr. (D-PA), Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.

Setting the Record Straight

A Shared Interest

"With his enthusiastic embrace of the so-called Saudi peace plan, Olmert is committing Israel to accepting the Arab narrative of the Arab-Israeli conflict. … With Olmert now giving his stamp of approval to the Saudi plan, he is denying the country its moral right to defend itself both militarily and diplomatically."
—Caroline Glick, deputy managing editor, The Jerusalem Post; senior fellow for Middle Eastern Affairs, Center for Security Policy, "Tzipi and the Drug Lords," The Jerusalem Post, November 27, 2008

“Israel rejected the Initiative in the past without examining it in depth. According to the common wisdom, the more Arab partners involved, the more they’ll be pushing us and be in favor of the Palestinians. I think that in the present situation in the Arab and Muslim world, where we see strengthening of extremism that bothers moderate Arab states no less than it bothers us, the Arab states have an interest that such an agreement comes to fruition. And for that to happen, if there is a need to push the Palestinians or assist them, I think this is exactly the time to do that.”
—Maj. Gen (ret.) Danny Rothschild, president, Council for Peace and Security, interview, Israeli radio, Reshet Bet, November 2, 2008 (translated by Middle East Bulletin)

Middle East Analysis

Putting the Arab Peace Initiative Into Action —Ghaith al-Omari, director of advocacy, American Task Force on Palestine; former foreign policy adviser to Palestinian President Abbas. Original Commentary for Middle East Bulletin.
Peace Plan Needs PR Backing —Roula Khalaf (Financial Times)
A Comprehensive Agenda —Ezzedine Choukri-Fishere, former adviser to the Egyptian foreign minister, & Omar Dajani, former legal adviser to the Palestinian negotiating team (Al-Ahram Weekly)

A Mideast Plan for the Next President

November 4, 2008

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is where bold U.S. presidential action can significantly affect the challenges in the Middle East and dramatically improve the status and prestige of the United States in the region. …

The next U.S. president should remove the two practical obstacles blocking the way to an Israeli-Palestinian agreement: relocate 120,000 Israeli settlers who now live in the West Bank in the areas that Israel will evacuate; provide new jobs, proper housing, and a better future to the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who live in poverty and despair. These actions will deny both parties the pretexts they use to evade decisions, and clear the way to the implementation of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. …

Such a presidential initiative would restore the prestige of the United States in the world, strengthen the moderates in the region, encourage Israeli- Palestinian reconciliation, and deny Iran and its proxies the pretext for war mongering.

The next U.S. president would thereby be viewed as the leader who changed the regional reality by generosity and not by military force; who aligned the moderate forces in the region for a coordinated action not as a war coalition, but as a coalition for peace and economic development. Access the full article>>

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