Shlomo Ben-Ami headed the Foreign Ministry under Ehud Barak. His government probably came closest to achieving a peace settlement with Palestinians. Now he gives his assessment on perspectives in Israel-Palestinian conflict:
Unfortunately, a peace settlement in this conflict is unlikely. Netanyahus government stands little chance of achieving what [former prime ministers] Barak and [Ehud] Olmert did not manage to achieve. The documents released by WikiLeaks clearly indicate that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is not among Washingtons top priorities. At the same time, a peace agreement is impossible unless the international community takes a common stance on the issue, the former minister said.
There is too wide a gap between the Palestinians conditions and the concessions Israel is ready to make, he explained.
Shlomo Ben-Ami believes that the unprecedentedly intense marathon of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, facilitated by U.S. President Bill Clinton at the turn of the 20th century, failed because the mediators left the parties in a one plus one setting at the final stage.
We were very close to our goal but at a certain point the negotiations lost their universal significance. Bill Clinton was replaced by [George] Bush who was not interested in resuming the process. We were left one-on-one with the Palestinians, when the great strategist [head of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser] Arafat, hoping to sign the agreement on even more favorable conditions, raised the conditions so far they became absolutely unacceptable, the former Israeli foreign minister said.
Full version of the interview was published on valdaiclub.com
Unfortunately, a peace settlement in this conflict is unlikely. Netanyahus government stands little chance of achieving what [former prime ministers] Barak and [Ehud] Olmert did not manage to achieve. The documents released by WikiLeaks clearly indicate that the Israeli-Palestinian issue is not among Washingtons top priorities. At the same time, a peace agreement is impossible unless the international community takes a common stance on the issue, the former minister said.
There is too wide a gap between the Palestinians conditions and the concessions Israel is ready to make, he explained.
Shlomo Ben-Ami believes that the unprecedentedly intense marathon of negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, facilitated by U.S. President Bill Clinton at the turn of the 20th century, failed because the mediators left the parties in a one plus one setting at the final stage.
We were very close to our goal but at a certain point the negotiations lost their universal significance. Bill Clinton was replaced by [George] Bush who was not interested in resuming the process. We were left one-on-one with the Palestinians, when the great strategist [head of the Palestinian National Authority Yasser] Arafat, hoping to sign the agreement on even more favorable conditions, raised the conditions so far they became absolutely unacceptable, the former Israeli foreign minister said.
Full version of the interview was published on valdaiclub.com
