Letter: Prospects for Mideast Peace

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It has been nearly three decades since I arranged the first secret official negotiations between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, and dashed as my hopes may have been by the end of Oslo, not once have I come to Ian S. Lustick's conclusion that the two-state solution is "an idea whose time is now past" ("Two-State Illusion," Sunday Review, Sept. 15).

The Israeli people once elected a prime minister, Yitzhak Rabin, who was willing to pursue a peace agreement that recognized the authentic aspirations of both peoples, and who went a long way toward achieving it before he was assassinated. There is every reason to believe that Israelis would elect such a person again, if the right leader came along — and there is every reason to believe that such a leader could complete the work initiated by Mr. Rabin.

On the Palestinian side, there is already a leader who has shown a willingness to pursue a peace agreement. Mahmoud Abbas is well aware that the Palestinian people need to focus their national aspirations not on the negation of Israeli goals, but on creating the preparatory structures for a Palestinian state. And he has talked openly about the Palestinians' self-destructive approach to the conflict. I sincerely believe that Mr. Abbas remains ready to pursue peace, if he can find an Israeli leader willing to engage in permanent-status negotiations.

Peacemaking requires courageous leadership. And when such leadership is in power, a peace agreement — and the two-state solution on which it can only be based — is anything but an illusion.

STEPHEN P. COHEN
President, Institute for Middle East
Peace and Development
Teaneck, N.J., Sept. 19, 2013

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