NEW YORK (JTA) — In the history of the State of Israel, never have there been preconditions
for face-to-face peace talks. While it was not obligated to do so, the Israeli government last
November ordered a 10-month freeze in new building projects in the West Bank.
This sign of good faith, the outward stretch of our hands in friendship with the Palestinians, has
been rejected for seven months. Now the Palestinians are calling for the freeze to be extended.
The goal of the freeze was to encourage Palestinians to come to peace talks, but rather than
embracing this moment, many are foolishly waiting for it to end so another freeze can be used as
a “precondition for peace talks.”
Before we can even think about extending the gesture, Israel and the Palestinians must sit down
immediately in direct talks. In the past seven months there is no telling what achievements could
have been attained for the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
While President Abbas and his Palestinian Authority have squandered this opportunity thus far, a
few months still remain in the settlement freeze. This is why we need to seize the moment and
act now to reach a series of political agreements that will entail the final peace.
While I believe that direct talks must begin as soon as possible, the situation on the ground keeps
improving. In the West Bank, more jobs are being created, hundreds of roadblocks and barriers
to trade have been removed, and the quality of life for Palestinians is soaring along with their
economy.
This is all thanks to the cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian leadership and security
forces. By combining Prime Minister Salam Fayyad’s plan of building a Palestinian state from the
ground up with a political settlement, Israel will have not only a peaceful neighbor but an
economic partner next door.
Meanwhile, in the Gaza Strip, Hamas has made it clear that it does not desire peace and does not
wish to be a partner in the peace process. Gaza City and Ramallah are, quite literally, a tale of
two cities. Ramallah prospers under the control of moderates and peace seekers, while Gaza City
is controlled by a militant terrorist organization that is more concerned with blowing up bridges
rather than building them.
As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on his recent visit, he is ready for “President Abbas
to grasp my hand, get into a room, shake it, sit down and negotiate a final settlement of peace
between Israel and the Palestinians.”
Never before in the history of the peace process has there been such an opportunity as we are
presented with today. Mahmoud Abbas can be, and will be, a partner in peace.
To get the train rolling, we need to have direct negotiations. Indirect talks will not produce
results and take us back nearly 20 years to Madrid.
Blood has been spilled for decades on both sides to bring us to where we are today: on the cusp
of peace, an end to this period of conflict and the beginning of an era of partnership with the
Palestinian people and hopefully the entire Arab world.
Direct talks will get the train moving, and for the first time, both sides agree on its destination.
Joel Lion is the consul for media and spokesperson at the Consulate General of Israel in New
York.
