The Search for Israeli-Arab Peace: Learning from the Past and Building Trust

Distinguished contributors from the US, Europe, and the Middle East present a range of options to get the Middle East peace process back on track. The history of the last half century of talks and negotiations - along with contributor experience in negotiations, suggestions, proposals, and formulas - are presented to the contending parties in order to develop a greater level of mutual empathy, understanding, and trust. This is required to jump-start the stalled peace talks into sincere and serious negotiations necessary to achieve a comprehensive, lasting Middle East peace accord. The focus of this volume is on how to achieve an agreement, not on the components of viable peace agreements, which the editors believe largely exist and are the subject of a number of earlier studies, books, and the texts of draft accords reached previously in government-to-government and private-parties negotiations. The editors and contributors assume a two-state solution based on land for peace and emphasize the importance of the role of outside mediators, especially the US. Peace and a final agreement can only be reached through Arabs and Israelis making tough decisions and compromises. Readers will be intrigued, amused, encouraged, and disappointed by accounts of incidents that de-railed past talks, the innovative analyses concerning past negotiations, and the potential for application of social science knowledge to the building of trust needed for attaining agreement. This book will appeal to political scientists and sociologists.