Last week, Jason Greenblatt, President Trump’s “special representative for international negotiations,” met with Israeli and Palestinian officials in an apparent attempt to revive the peace process. With Benjamin Netanyahu, Greenblatt emphasized the importance of improving the Palestinians’ economic situation and obtained assurances that Jerusalem is committed to doing just that. Efraim Inbar argues that this is precisely the wrong way to go about bringing peace:
It is odd to offer carrots to the Palestinians before they have committed themselves to returning to the negotiating table they left in March 2014. The impulse to give out carrots displays the conventional wisdom of the international community (including the Israeli government): that the Palestinians must be well fed to prevent their erupting into violence. This attitude has led to continuous financial support to the Palestinian Authority (PA) despite the growing awareness that a large proportion of that aid is channeled to terrorists and their families.
Short-term calculations of this kind only prolong the conflict. Indeed, the campaign of terror that started in September 2000, dubbed the second intifada, took place after several years of economic progress during which the Palestinian standard of living was the highest in history. The many carrots provided did not overcome the Palestinians’ appetite for political achievements; nor did it channel their energies from terror to the negotiating table.
The art of negotiation requires a carefully calibrated mix of carrots and sticks. The cumulative failures since 1993 suggest that the right balance . . . has not yet been reached. Considering the huge amounts of money the PA has received over time and the Palestinians’ persistent refusal to recognize that a deal is in their interest, it is reasonable to conclude that the approach adopted to bring them around has lacked sufficient sticks. . . .
The Palestinians’ choices will never change if their poor decisions never exact a cost.
Read more on BESA Center: https://besacenter.org/perspectives-papers/president-trump-wants-peace-process/