As the United States prepares for another round of peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, two issues are emerging as particularly pressing, according to Baker Institute founding director Ambassador Edward P. Djerejian. The first is determining the future borders of Israel and a Palestinian state, and the second is the fate of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
In a May 23, 2010, op-ed in the Houston Chronicle, Djerejian, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and to Syria, writes, “An agreement on territory and borders, including settlements, could enable negotiators to facilitate forward movement on other, even more controversial issues.”
He cites the recent Baker Institute report, “Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Settlement” (PDF), which determined that a U.S. territorial bridging proposal could narrow differences to the point where an agreement could be reached.
Download and read “Borders key to peace talks” (PDF).