MICHAEL BERENBAUM POSITION 1-10-13

Subject:  LET US SPELL OUT THE TERMS OF THE DIVORCE AND THEN DETERMINE WHETHER THERE'S ANY POSSIBLE OVERLAP BETWEEN THE MINIMUM ISRAELI POSITION AND  THE MINIMUM  PALESTINIAN POSITION.  IF THERE IS , THEN WE CAN MOVE FORWARD. ALSO, LET'S DISCUSS THE DEMOGRAPHIC

That is not my task – the specifics of any settlement cannot be imposed from the outside by non speciialists, they involve borders and boundaries, use of water resources, strategic heights, what powers and military forces each can have, roads, tunnels, connections, land transfers. The parameters of an agreement are clear from Clinton in 2000-2001 and from Omert-Abbas negotiations.

Had Rabin been allowed to live, I suspect that he, Clinton and even Arafat would have come to an agreement. I suspect that the current Prime Minister is satisfied to delay any agreement as it maintains his political circumstances and he is actually confused as to what he wants. Please anyone tell me what he wants and how he expects to get there. Also tell me what he risks alienating Europe and the United States when he may well need them for sanctions and even for an attack on Iran.

Many Palestinians still dream they can have it all – they cannot – Fayyad is looking for a viable state and good government. He is the Ben Gurion of Palestine without the political support and the charisma to impose his will. Every Israeli I know and every American I know who has worked with him believe that he is the one man who knows what he wants and how to get there. He is just not powerful enough to impose his will on the situation.

Both sides wish the other would disappear; they will not.

My major hope, slim that it is,  is that they come to the conclusion that they are so unhappy living together that they are willing to give up much in order to live apart. That is why divorce is the model. That is what happens in divorce.

I have written in this field for some 25-40 years. I was in Israel for the Six-Day War and physically reunited Jerusalem. I have only written as a partisan Jew, advocating a democratic Jewish state of Israel.

I also believe, much to the chagrin of many, that only a confirmed antisemite could believe that the Jewish people have the leadership they deserve.

Michael