May 8, 2014

Indyk, appointed by Secretary of State Kerry to carry out the day-to-day negotiations, reviewes the nine months of talks. He concludes that settlement activity undermine Palestinian trust in the negotiations. He further ventures a guess that the settlements can undermine Israel’s Jewish future. He credits Netanyahu with significant ‘flexibility’ and is in a zone for an agreement in March 2014, including a willingness to negotiate on the basis of the 1967 lines with land swaps. As for Abbas, he simply is not prepared to make the compromises needed. Abbas says he will not discuss recognition of Israel as a Jewish state and Netanyahu considers it a foundational issue. Indyk notes, “competing narratives, grievances and insensitivities badly affected the environment for negotiations.” (source)