SFG Report Discussed in Washington DC

Washington DC, March 23, 2009                                                                                                         April, 2009

SFG Report on Cost of Conflict in the Middle East was presented at a public seminar of the Aspen Institute in Washington DC on March 23. The seminar was attended by over 100 thought leaders in Washington DC. Following the presentation of the SFG report, the seminar discussed the Geneva Initiative proposals and ideas for a way forward. Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh, former Minister for Public Works of the Palestine Authority, and Dr. Ephraim Sneh, former Minister for Health, Transport and Defence (deputy minister) who have been involved with the Cost of Conflict process make concrete suggestions for attempting a breakthrough in the Arab-Israeli conflict.

These suggestions included
- Freeze on settlements with verifiable monitoring to pre-empt aberration
- Reversal of settlement process by introducing economic measures
- Substantial reduction in check-points
- Economic development of the Palestine Territories
- Measures to ensure Israel's security, particularly those related to threat perception from Iran.

In his introduction to the Cost of Conflict in the Middle East report, Amb. Jean Daniel Ruch, Special Envoy of Switzerland for the Middle East spoke of the collaborative nature of the project and the involvement of scholars and politicians from the Middle East in its preparation. Mr Sundeep Waslekar introduced the report and highlighted some of its key findings.

Dr. Mohammed Shtayyeh said that there is a need to look not only at the cost of conflict but also at the economic profit made by Israel from occupation of Palestinian territories. He stressed on the need to look at in-conflict situation rather than the post conflict one.

Dr. Ephraim Sneh said that in the earlier Knesset there were 65% of members who were for the two-state solution. In the current Knesset, there are 65% of members who are against the two- state solution.

Admiral Ami Ayalon of Israel said that at present the reality in Israel is fear rather than hope. He spoke of the need to reduce checkpoints immediately and not just to freeze settlements, but to bring back the settlers by changing the policy. In his estimate, at least 30% of the settlers would come back immediately if they got legitimacy and financial support.

The SFG report was also discussed at a seminar convened by the National Defence University and attended by senior defence professionals and experts. It was chaired by Dr. Patrick Cronin, Director of Institute of National Strategic Studies at NDU.