Peace in the Middle East seems to be as elusive as the unicorn. Since 1949, many peace plans have been proposed and rejected for many reasons; however, this has not stopped many of U.S. Presidents from trying to put that feather in their cap. Israel has signed peace agreements with Egypt in 1979 and with Jordan in 1994, showing that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that peace can be achieved between bitter enemies. These achievements have long fueled the drive of successive presidents to try and bring peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the greater Arab world. In 1991, President Bush brought the parties together at the Madrid conference; in 1993, US President Bill Clinton brought the parties together for the Oslo Accords; in 2000, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and  Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat joined President Clinton at Camp David; in 2002, President Bush presented the roadmap for peace and hosted direct negotiations in 2008; in 2010, President Obama made it a priority of his first administration to get the parties into direct negotiations.

 

Each period of hope for peace was followed by a period of violence and terror. Be it the wave of suicide bombings in the mid 1990’s, the Second Intifada in 2003, the rocket attacks from Gaza in the mid 2000’s, and the multiple Gaza confrontations in 2009, 2012 and 2014. With Israeli elections on the horizon for the second time in a 6-month period, the peace process and its prospects are always an election issue and talking point. This time round, the talk is about the ‘Deal of the Century’ to be presented by the Trump administration after the Israeli elections. This plenary session will examine the prospects of this peace plan and what potential implications this will have on terrorism, especially if history is to repeat itself.