Peace Process

Washington's former chief negotiator on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict proposes a fourteen-point agenda to ensure that any new talks have a chance to be productive.

On February 5, David Makovsky, director of the Project on the Middle East Peace Process at The Washington Institute, testified before the House regarding the implications of the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and its effects on the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. The following is an excerpt from his testimony.

With Netanyahu's bloc winning fewer votes than expected and the center-left winning more, forming a coalition government will be complicated.

The Israeli public is moving to the right on the Palestinian issue, but economic and social concerns, more than security debates, are likely to determine the left/right composition of the next Knesset.

In the coming months, what the parties say will be more important than what they do.

The growing threat of Arab-Israeli war, the Iranian nuclear issue, and the potential for Palestinian political meltdown could make this year a precarious one for Israel.

As the projected makeup of the leading faction in Israel's next government becomes increasingly clear, Washington should begin considering what it might mean for U.S. policy.

There's more to it than Stephen Walt would have you believe.

On November 29, Washington Institute executive director Robert Satloff testified before the House regarding the implications of the latest Gaza crisis and, more important, the new regional context in which it transpired. Given the increasing range of Hamas weapons, the targeting of Israel across three of its borders, the rise