Baker Institute, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace launch joint project on prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace

Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace have launched a joint effort to create a report addressing current options for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. The project will be headed by Baker Institute Director Edward Djerejian and Carnegie Endowment Vice President Marwan Muasher.

Edward Djerejian

The report, to be published this fall will consider two frameworks for addressing the conflict in the years ahead: the two-state paradigm that has characterized the peace process for decades, or the parameters of coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians within a single or binational state. The project will not only seek to revisit long-standing assumptions, but will assess current realities in the Israeli, Palestinian and international political context, in an effort to evaluate practical next steps toward finding a sustainable and equitable solution.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains a core issue in the Middle East,” said Djerejian, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel and Syria. “Efforts to advance peace between Israel and Palestine have been stagnant since 2014, but in light of recent events – the Arab uprising and the regional consequences, unrest in Gaza, the decision to move the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem in May and important questions about the future of Palestinian politics and institutions – there is a compelling need to assess the objective realities of prospects to move forward toward a negotiated peace settlement.”

“With the possible breakdown of a two-state solution, the time has come to study other alternatives, specifically variations of the one-state solution, and all the possible implications for future Palestinians and Israelis,” Muasher said.

Djerejian served as U.S. ambassador to Israel, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs and U.S. ambassador to Syria.

Muasher served as deputy prime minister and foreign minister of Jordan.