This Video is 1 1/2 hours long. It's worth it. I'll add it to our "important links" permanent area on the right. Meanwhile, the article below sums it up nicely.

U.S. Policy and the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse

Dennis Ross

April 7, 2014  The Washington Institute for Near East Policy 

On April 4, 2014, Dennis Ross, Robert Satloff, and David Pollock addressed a Policy Forum at The Washington Institute. Ambassador Ross, the Institute's counselor and William Davidson Distinguished Fellow, served in the Obama administration as senior director for the central region on the National Security Council. The following is a rapporteur's summary of his remarks; Satloff and Pollock's observations will be published separately.

In 2013, Secretary of State John Kerry looked at the region, saw enormous upheaval, and judged that the last thing the United States needed was to add to this upheaval. In his view, as long as there was a certain level of stability between Israelis and Palestinians, Washington's task was to build upon it and make certain it was not lost. He also believed that his personal relations with the two leaders gave him the potential to produce an agreement.

TOWARD A FRAMEWORK OF PRINCIPLES

Secretary Kerry heard early on from both leaders that neither had any interest in interim arrangements. After deciding that a framework agreement was not possible, he began to focus on a "framework of principles" that would create a clear picture of how to resolve the core issues of borders and security and, with a lesser degree of specificity, provide direction for resolving refugees and Jerusalem.

He was able to get the two sides to resume direct bilateral talks last summer, but they were not productive. As a result, he and his team, led by Martin Indyk, gradually became more involved in dealing with both parties. Kerry's discussions went deeply into all of the core issues; his aim was to establish that Israeli and Palestinian acceptance of the framework principles, with accompanying reservations, would provide the basis for detailed negotiations. His efforts produced the most serious, detailed discussions on the core issues since 2000, during which he apparently made progress.

Yet the gaps remained real. In fact, after Kerry briefed Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas on the framework he was readying, Palestinians publicly indicated that Abbas was not prepared to accept it. Amid recent efforts to bridge the gaps, Kerry and his team also faced the difficult issue of additional prisoner releases.

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