Shaul Arieli was the head of the Negotiating Administration in former Prime Minister Ehud Barak’s office. He is a member of the board of the Council for Peace and Security and one of the initiators of the Geneva Initiative. Arieli was one of the signatories to a letter sent by a group of Israeli security figures, academics, and intellectuals to the prime minister, defense minister and foreign minister after the Lebanese war, calling upon them to pursue negotiations now.
The Trump proposal first and foremost deals a mortal blow to everything achieved
to date in efforts to reach a resolution, reviving the Israeli illusion of an agreement
without any concession on the West Bank.
A leadership that lacks the national responsibility necessary to resettle less than 1.5%
of the Jewish population in the Land of Israel/Palestine would not be able to cope with
the far greater challenges involved in realizing the idea of a federation or confederation.