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By Noah Efron, Huffington Post
16.3.2011
via Huffington Post (click for original)
EXCERPT
In a long essay in the New York Times, Avishai reported that both men believed that their efforts could lead to a comprehensive peace settlement, and soon. Olmert told him that "we were very close, more than ever in the past, to complete an agreement on principles that would have led to the end of the conflict between us and the Palestinians." Abbas told him that the negotiations included "creative ideas" that could solve problems that in the past defied solution. The sides had effectively agreed on matters of security and defense, for instance. Based on his interviews, Avishai concludes that agreement was almost in hand: "The gaps appear so pitifully small."
To most Israelis, this last thing is hardly a surprise. The great, open secret of the peace process is that most Palestinians and Israelis know, more or less, what a negotiated settlement between the two sides will look like: two states, tweaked 1967 borders, limited return of refugees, etc. This is more-or-less the settlement almost forged between Olmert and Abbas, and it is more or less so-called "Geneva Accord" hammered out by Palestinian and Israeli intellectuals. Most Israelis agree that, if a peace accord is ever struck up, this is what it will look like.
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