Israeli-Palestinian Talks： Distrust and Failure

The latest two rounds of direct talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority in 2010 and 2013 failed after nine months of negotiations. Despite of the efforts of the negotiators and the support of the US administration, the goal of reaching a final status agreement between the two sides once again could not be achieved. Considering the complexity of the issues, the failure did not surprise most experts who follow the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The reasons are many, but no doubt, the main issue is the distrust between the two sides. The Palestinians, on the one hand, believe that Israel does not want to leave the West Bank and is pursuing the unilateral security policies implemented by Ariel Sharon and his successors after the Camp David talks in 2000. Israel, on the other hand, believes there is no partner on the Palestinian side, with its leadership divided and with Hamas showing no sign of recognizing Israel’s very existence. Due to the distrust between them, the two parties are heavily dependent on US mediation. Accordingly, both sides restarted negotiations under pressure from the Barack Obama administration half heartedly. In addition to existing problems, Turkey’s involvement in the conflict by challenging the Gaza embargo and by supporting Palestinians at the expense of Israel in the international arena jeopardized American efforts. So, the failure of the talks was no surprise for many and no doubt it will have considerable consequences for both sides, as the July War in Gaza proves. This article focuses on the limits of American mediation for building trust between the sides, the micro-reasons of the failure of the talks, the possible consequences of this failure, and Turkey’s Palestinian policy as a further complicating factor.