Blog

Israel could announce that it was launching a global energy effort – a sort of Manhattan Project.

The `mini-quartet` of Israel, the PA, Egypt and Jordan can provide the mechanism for renewing the peace process. This partnership of four interdependent neighbors is the best, and perhaps, the only way that we can move forward toward a political horizon of hope.

Gershon Baskin deals with issue of Palestinian residents of the territories who hold foreign passports and are being denied the right to remain in their homes.

The pursuit of peace must be translated into policies that send clear messages to our neighbors and to the world.

We Israelis should be interested in keeping Sam Bahour and the thousands of others like Sam as our neighbors in the West Bank. The chances for building real peace increase when people like Sam Bahour can be our neighbor. Shame on any government of Israel that would force people like Sam to leave.

The Palestinian public overwhelmingly supports the kidnap of Israeli soldiers – they view it as the one sure way to bring about a prisoner release, quite a vicious circle.

The Commission would be wise to ask additional questions concerning how diplomacy could be used to capitalize on the peaceful relations already established with Egypt and Jordan in reaching out to others in the “neighborhood” in order to reduce and remove strategic threats by converting them into strategic allies.

The current Middle East crisis should be used by decisions makers to create opportunities to bring the region into a new era of regional and bilateral negotiations aimed at dealing with the Israeli-Arab conflict in a comprehensive fashion.