May 11, 2007

By Mary Korr

Brief bio

Who: Daniel Levy Background:

* Lead Israeli drafter of the non-governmental Geneva Accord initiative

* Head of Jerusalem Affairs unit in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak

* Senior policy adviser to former Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin

* Member of official Israeli delegation to the Taba negotiations with the Palestinians in 2001

* On negotiating team to the Oslo B agreement (1995) under Prime Minister Rabin.

PROVIDENCE - Israeli peace negotiator and policy analyst Daniel Levy, speaking the King's English, punched out a fusillade of Middle East facts, figures and analyses April 24 at Temple Beth-El. A London native, he made aliyah to Israel in 1991.

"I come to speak with a sense of urgency for several reasons," he told the 50 or so gathered at Beth-El.

Levy is currently a senior fellow and director of the Prospects for Peace initiative on the Middle East at The Century Foundation (www.tcf.org), a policy think tank, with offices in New York City and Washington D.C. The Mideast program was created in September to focus on conflicts in the Middle East; central to this is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He described the mood in Israel. "People are losing hope on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; and a society bereft of hope is adrift. We've tried everything - negotiation, wars, and unilateralism - and achieved nothing. The default is the status quo."

Israel's domestic problems, scandals in the government, and post-Lebanon malaise puts the state in a "deeply dysfunctional place," he said.

And, "The two-state solution, with agreed borders, which the majority of Israelis embrace, may become more difficult to implement as the pattern of (West Bank) settlements expands."

He said one of the greatest dangers is the instability in the region, particularly in Iraq, which has created a foothold for Al Qaeda and other extremists.

Hopeful signs.

But, he does have some hope. He views the Quartet (EU, UN, Russia, US) as the prime mover in a resolution. "In Israel, we are groping to find and get back into a diplomatic dynamic. The United State's role is to help stitch it together." He said the Quartet remains proponents of the Road Map, the only common peace document accepted. The U.S must take the lead and convince Arab countries that a stable Middle East is the only way to guarantee long-term security for the region.

He noted several hopeful signs:

1. The U.S. is eager for progress and Sec. of State Condoleeza Rice's shuttle diplomacy

2. The Palestinian unity government: If nurtured, it could deliver a ceasefire and minimize Hamas undermining the process.

3. Overtures made by Syria to talk to Israel, and the U.S. "To talk is not to endorse," he said.

4. He cited the changing mood in Arab countries, pointing to the Saudi/Arab League initiative.

"The Arab countries have signaled they are willing to be guarantors of peace in the Middle East," he said. In late March, at the League summit in Mecca, 22 nations signed on to the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which, he emphasized, calls for normalization of relations with the entire Arab world after a "just and agreed-to solution to the refugee problem...agreed means Israel has to agree. And Israel will decide who can become a citizen of the state." He said Israelis know there has to be a land swap based on pre-1967 borders, another condition of the 2002 plan. He said Israel will need the help of American Jewry to "help us build the post-conflict Israel. American Jews tend to see Israel as a Disney World of Jewish experiences but we are and need so much more."

He was invited to speak by the local chapter of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom (the Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace) and the temple's adult enrichment program.