{ "id": "R40092", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "number": "R40092", "active": false, "source": "EveryCRSReport.com, University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "versions": [ { "source": "EveryCRSReport.com", "id": 354928, "date": "2010-01-08", "retrieved": "2016-04-07T02:05:23.953594", "title": "Israel and the Palestinians: Prospects for a Two-State Solution", "summary": "Following leadership changes in the United States and Israel in early 2009 and the Israel-Hamas Gaza conflict in December 2008-January 2009, the inconclusive final-status peace negotiations that took place between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) during the final year of the Bush Administration have not resumed. Nevertheless, President Barack Obama showed his commitment to a negotiated \u201ctwo-state solution\u201d just days after his January 2009 inauguration by appointing former Senator George Mitchell as his Special Envoy for Middle East Peace. In September 2009, Obama convened a trilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in New York and addressed the annual opening session of the United Nations General Assembly. He indicated that final-status negotiations should not be delayed further, despite the lack of resolution on preliminary issues such as the possible freeze of Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem or the possible gradual normalization of ties between Israel and certain Arab states.\nIt has now been 16 years since Israel and the PLO agreed to the 1993 Oslo Accord. Yet, differences between the sides over core issues, such as borders, security, settlements, the status of Jerusalem, refugees, and water rights, have not been overcome, despite the third-party involvement of various international actors\u2014the United States, in particular.\nPreviously when talks have faltered, the parties eventually returned to the negotiating table. Yet there are a number of key actors and observers expressing doubts that the very concept of a negotiated two-state solution can survive a process in which negotiations are put on hold and resumed an indefinite number of times without finality. These doubts have been exacerbated by geopolitical changes and by realities on the ground\u2014including demographics, violence, Palestinian factionalism, Israeli settlements, and other impediments to Palestinian movement and territorial contiguity\u2014that sustain tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.\nDecreased hope in the viability of a two-state solution has led to a willingness among some policymakers and analysts to consider different pathways to get there\u2014such as Palestinian statehood prior to a final-status agreement or a \u201cborders first\u201d deal. It also has led to openness among some Israelis and Palestinians to alternative solutions that are contrary to declared U.S. policy. These alternatives, each of which is the subject of considerable debate among and between Israelis and Palestinians, include a so-called \u201cone-state solution,\u201d a \u201cJordanian\u201d or \u201cregional\u201d option, or other, non-negotiated outcomes. Continued failure to reach a two-state solution, combined with lack of consensus on any of the alternatives, may also mean that the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza could continue indefinitely.\nDebate continues over the proper U.S. approach to the peace process. Congress faces significant policy challenges both with its oversight of the Obama Administration\u2019s formulation and implementation of policy; and on matters such as foreign aid, security assistance, Israeli settlements, the role of Arab states, and the treatment of the militant Islamist group Hamas (a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization). For more information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and peace process, see CRS Report RL33530, Israeli-Arab Negotiations: Background, Conflicts, and U.S. Policy, by Carol Migdalovitz.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORTS", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "HTML", "encoding": "utf-8", "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/R40092", "sha1": "e23f4df02146a3c5c03b26592e471693c72586ef", "filename": "files/20100108_R40092_e23f4df02146a3c5c03b26592e471693c72586ef.html", "images": null }, { "format": "PDF", "encoding": null, "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/R40092", "sha1": "6d8fe2c69d4e4bd77fef27cbd2305377337c4892", "filename": "files/20100108_R40092_6d8fe2c69d4e4bd77fef27cbd2305377337c4892.pdf", "images": null } ], "topics": [] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc461910/", "id": "R40092_2009Oct07", "date": "2009-10-07", "retrieved": "2014-12-05T09:57:41", "title": "Israel and the Palestinians: Prospects for a Two-State Solution", "summary": "This report gives a brief overview of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and examines recent developments, diplomatic and otherwise. The report also states two options for reaching a two-state solution and several alternative proposals for dealing with the conflict.", "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20091007_R40092_c8a05c7631ecbda1d05c3cb02cd44a111f0e0e8e.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20091007_R40092_c8a05c7631ecbda1d05c3cb02cd44a111f0e0e8e.html" } ], "topics": [ { "source": "LIV", "id": "International affairs", "name": "International affairs" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Negotiations", "name": "Negotiations" }, { "source": "LIV", "id": "Arab-Israeli conflict", "name": "Arab-Israeli conflict" } ] }, { "source": "University of North Texas Libraries Government Documents Department", "sourceLink": "https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc815691/", "id": "R40092_2008Dec10", "date": "2008-12-10", "retrieved": "2016-03-19T13:57:26", "title": "Israel and the Palestinians: Prospects for a Two-State Solution", "summary": null, "type": "CRS Report", "typeId": "REPORT", "active": false, "formats": [ { "format": "PDF", "filename": "files/20081210_R40092_591b3b7db12f2989f3e147e34590bbef061078bd.pdf" }, { "format": "HTML", "filename": "files/20081210_R40092_591b3b7db12f2989f3e147e34590bbef061078bd.html" } ], "topics": [] } ], "topics": [ "Asian Affairs", "Foreign Affairs", "Intelligence and National Security" ] }