U.S. Leaders Support New Israel-Palestine Peace Initiatives

Washington/Brussels, 5 December 2003: The International Crisis Group (ICG) is pleased to announce that former senior U.S. foreign policy office holders of Republican and Democratic Administrations stretching back over three decades have signed the attached open letter to Israelis and Palestinians in support of two unofficial initiatives to find a path to peace in the Middle East.

The letter congratulates and supports the courageous efforts of Israeli and Palestinian civil society leaders who worked on a comprehensive settlement of the issues dividing Israel and Palestine.  The settlement, known as the Geneva Accord, was signed on 1 December 2003 in Switzerland by Yasser Abed Rabbo and Yossi Beilin.  A similar but more general Statement of Principles - identified as the People’s Voice Initiative - was drafted by Israeli Ami Ayalon and Palestinian Sari Nusseibeh.

The letter was released today at the conclusion of the weeklong visit to Washington, D.C. by the Israeli and Palestinian initiators of the Geneva Accord, including meetings today with Secretary of State Colin Powell and other high U.S. government officials.

ICG previously released a similar statement of support signed by 60 foreign leaders.

To Israelis and Palestinians
A Statement of Support

On the occasion of the signing on 1 December 2003 of the “Geneva Initiative” – a blueprint for peace negotiated by teams of Israelis and Palestinians led by former ministers Yossi Beilin and Yasser Abed Rabbo – we express our strong support both for this and the “People’s Voice” petition initiated by Ami Ayalon and Sari Nusseibeh.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has taken far too great a toll already. Both peoples have paid dearly in lives and livelihood in a war that both are losing. Every passing day undermines the prospects for a peaceful, two-state solution. As long as the conflict endures, it will be a source of instability and violence for the region and the international community as a whole.

We believe that the best way to move forward is to address at the outset, not at the end of an incremental process, all the basic principles of a fair and lasting solution. Postponing the final outcome makes any progress hostage to extremists on both sides. A process must be devised to give practical and political expression to the heartfelt desire of clear majorities on both sides to end this conflict once and for all.

The Geneva and People’s Voice Initiatives both reflect that public opinion, and can help give it new momentum. On the Israeli side, they can help undo the myths taking hold since the collapse of the peace process and onset of violence: that the Palestinian people are not prepared to accept a two state solution and Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state. On the Palestinian side, they can offer an alternative to the current mindset that sees in violence the only possible means of ending the occupation. They send a powerful signal that an alternative to the current situation exists. They have the potential to transform the domestic political dynamics on both sides.

International support will be crucial to translate these endeavors into a concrete mechanism to bring about a lasting peace. The international players most relevant for this purpose – the U.S., E.U., Russia, UN ‘Quartet’, and the members of the Arab League – should wholeheartedly back these initiatives. They should urge both the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to be guided by the outcomes most of their peoples want. And they should make clear their own willingness to lend all the political, economic and military support needed to help implement a comprehensive peace agreement.

We may not agree with every clause and every word of your agreements. But we do agree that focusing on the principles necessary for ending the conflict, on the need for compromise, and on ensuring that the Israeli and Palestinian people will decide their own futures, is a powerful and welcome way forward. The Israeli and Palestinian peoples, by making clear their belief in the Geneva and People’s Voice Initiatives, can help turn the principles embodied in them into reality. You can count on our support in this endeavor.