Columbia International Affairs Online: Policy Briefs

CIAO DATE: 03/2010

From Jerusalem to Ramallah: Agenda 2010

David Makovsky, Jacob Walles, Robert Satloff

February 2010

The Washington Institute for Near East Policy

Abstract

The absence of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations over the past year is both surprising and troubling given the high priority President Obama assigned to resolving the conflict. The failure to resume talks stems largely from a lack of urgency on both sides. Palestinian Authority (PA) president Mahmoud Abbas in particular seems to believe that if he does not agree to direct talks, Washington will step in and either push Israel to make further concessions or proffer its own peace plan.