Veteran Israeli negotiator Shaul Arieli discusses the failure of the Oslo Accords, various Israeli prime ministers' commitment (or lack thereof) to ending the occupation, and the only solution he believes both sides could live with, however unsatisfied they might be with it.  Shaul Arieli is a man on a dual mission: educating Israelis about the conflict and diplomatic process with the Palestinians, and making the point that the two-state solution is both possible and necessary. His latest publication in Hebrew, A Border between Us and You (Yeditoth Ahronoth Books 2013), is a 500-page handbook to the history of the conflict, with an emphasis on…

Netanyahu used to be in a class by himself as a vainly handsome Israeli political leader obsessed with his appearance. Now he's got company, and competition.  Oh God -- Netanyahu and Lapid in the same cabinet meetings. I don't know if so much preening, posing and mugging can be contained in one room without the walls starting to buckle. One thing I advise Lapid -- don't wear a tie. Nobody, but nobody can knot a tie like the Beebs. Check out that knot -- it's so symmetrical, so solid and tightly-packed -- and you rarely see even a sliver of…

Israeli intentions to build in E1 have both the material and the symbolic significant that could turn into a trigger for a new uprising. It's time for a new path. By Jamie Levin and Craig D. Smith A good number of pundits have recently heralded the demise of the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The culprit, they argue, is Netanyahu’s proposed settlement expansion in the area unceremoniously dubbed E1. While there seems to be consensus on a terminal prognosis for a Palestinian state, few have investigated what this will mean for the future of the Israeli-Palestinian relationship, which will…

How much longer before all of us accept it? How many more years of suffering will Palestinians endure before we get it? How many more Palestinian and Israeli lives will perish before the hardest word of them all sinks in? The word “apartheid” is applied more and more these days when discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What it does mostly is make people angry, on both sides of the Jewish political map. Even left-wingers will say something along the lines of “sure, there’s an occupation. But apartheid? Come on. No need to exaggerate.” I myself am using the word more in…

Declassified documents from meetings held before and during the Sabra and Shatila massacre in 1982 reveal Ariel Sharon's contempt for Palestinian lives. Published last week by the New York Times, the documents demonstrate the arrogance of Sharon and a young Benjamin Netanyahu in their dealing with American diplomats and officials, who expressed justified concerns over the fate of Palestinians in areas conquered by Israel. The Jewish New Year (Rosh Hashana) also marked the 30th anniversary of the massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. At least 800 people, including many women and children, were killed by…

Why was a paragraph removed from a Haaretz op-ed concerning an attack on Iran? Dr. Avner Cohen, the unofficial historian of the Israeli nuclear program, noticed today that a paragraph that appeared in the Hebrew print edition of a Haaretz op-ed by Sefi Rachlevski revealed for the first time a few details of a little-known incident from 1998. While arguing against “the gamble” of going to war with Iran, Rachlevski writes: In 1998, Saddam Hussein, weakened by the American no-flight zone, made one hollow threat. In response, [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu ordered to consider the arming of Jericho missiles. An order that wasn’t…

Over the years, Israeli politicians have used various disparaging remarks to describe Palestinians. During this U.S. election, it looks like American politicians have adopted the same tactic, as recently shown during Mitt Romney's visit to Israel. By Amer Zahr Look, as a Palestinian, I’m used to hearing racist epithets thrown my way.  I’ve heard Abba Eban say that Palestinians “never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.”  I’ve heard Menachem Begin call us “beasts.”  Ehud Barak called us “crocodiles.”  Ariel Sharon once said he would “kill as many Arabs as necessary.”  Benjamin Netanyahu labels us a “demographic threat.”  Famously, Golda…

Haneen Zoabi, an MK from the Balad party, speaks to Elsa Rassbach about Land Day and her relationship as a Palestinian to Zionism and citizenship.  By Elsa Rassbach Since the 1980s, Palestinians have marked every March 30 with protests to celebrate Land Day.  The day commemorates the first widespread struggle of Arab Israelis against processes of land confiscation intended to create Jewish majorities in certain communities. The marches and general strikes began in the Galilee in 1976, and resulted in the killings of six unarmed Arab citizens of Israel. Solidarity protests spread to the occupied West Bank, Gaza and the refugee…

No, the social movement cannot afford to raise Palestinian issues right now. But it is coming All over the place, pro-Palestinian activists are voicing a sharp criticism of the Israeli social justice movement: There can be no justice, they say, without raising the issue of the occupation and the beastly injustice done on daily basis to the Palestinians. Right, but oh so wrong. That the Palestinians suffer injustice and indignity is not in dispute – not even by the Israeli hasbara machine in its calmer moments. But to raise this issue now is to fracture the social justice movement too…

More than a week passed since PM Benjamin Netanyahu got back from Washington, and still there is no deal on the settlements moratorium. Attila Somfalvi, Ynet's political correspondent, quotes an Israeli source: "The Americans are showing signs of despair from Netanyahu. They don't understand what he wants." An Israeli minister who is a member of the security cabinet (a decision-making forum within the government) says: "The negotiations continue, but there are disagreements about some clauses in the document. There are talks with the United States, but things are moving slowly." Another cabinet minister adds that "Netanyahu apparently got himself in…