Middle East Peace Process

Importance: 1) Important to achieving other US FP goals in the region

2) Stability in the ME

3) Decreases Terrorism

British declare end of rule in 1948

--international pressure

--Terrorism (Irgun)

UN General Assembly- November 1947

Partition into Jewish and Palestinian state

Jerusalem- international admin

Jewish Leaders Accept

Arab Leaders Reject

End of 1947- Conflict

Egypt, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan

May 14, 1948- Official End British Mandate

State of Israel Declared

War, Five Arab States vs Israel

Israel victorious

Result of War: 1) Israeli state larger than UN plan

2) Refugees

3) Arab Antagonism

1948-1967 Military Crises

1967- 6 Day War

Effects of 1967 War 1) Israeli Growth

2) Occupied Territories and Terrorism

3) Settlements

UN 242

1) Israeli withdrawal

2) Recognition of all states

1973 Yom Kippur War

Egypt and Syria vs Israel

Effects of War 1) UN Buffer Zones

2) US prevent future wars

3) PLO internationalizes

1979 Camp David Accords

1987- Intifada

1993 Oslo Declaration of Principles

1) Right to exist

2) Self Governance

1995 Interim Agreement

Nov. 1995 Rabin assassinated, renewal of violence

Unsettled Issues 1) Refugees

2) Jerusalem

3) Violence

4) PNA

5) Settlements

Current US Policy

1) Road Map3 phases 1) end violence, freeze settlements2) Palestinian State with provisional borders

3) Final borders, refugees, Jerusalem

2) Resumption of Talks

--Settlements (Land Swaps), Palestinian State

Quartet- US, EU, Russia, and UN

Advs: 1) gradualism

2) Intl Commitment

3) Normalize SQ

Problems 1) First Phase Problems

2) Quartet Blues

3) No real solutions- like Oslo

Other Plans working with Roadmap

1) Peace Valley Plan- Economic Cooperation

2) Lots of others- Low level, often non-government

Alternatives (Not Necessarily Presented this way:

Arab Peace Initiative (2002 and 2007:

Israel: 1) Withdraw from all 67 territories

2) Palestinian refugees

3) Palestinian state- East Jerusalem

Arab States: Peace and Normal Relations

Advs: 1) Avoids Israeli-Palestinian short term/ long term tradeoff

2) More Incentives for Israel (e.g. Peace with Syria and other Arab states)

Problems 1) Palestinians not unified – no Hamas

2) Israel rejects large parts of Initiative

3) Iran and are all the Arab states (Syria, Lebanon) behind this