Would Al Gore Have Successfully Made Peace Between Israel and the Palestinians?

Fine. What ties Hamas to an agreement with Abbas, either in 2000 or (especially) in 2007?
The problem is not to have a leader sign an agreement. Abbas or Arafat could have signed, for example, Taba. The problem is that the leader needs to make his/hers people follow. Could any of them make the Palestinians accept Taba? (or could Barak do the same for Israelis? Far easier, but not guaranteed; Sharon had trouble for much less).
That's why I said above that the leadership bit, while not sufficient in itself, is critical.
In regards to Hamas, here is what Hamas had to say on this topic in 2010:

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hamas-will-honor-Palestinian-referendum-on-peace-deal

Whether Hamas was serious in regards to this, well, only time will tell.
 
Of course, and it is a very understandable belief, since it did not work (although it was not exclusively Arafat's fault). But had it worked (unlikely, yes) his terrorist past would have mattered nothing.
Completely agreed. Indeed, my own parents' currently thoughts on this are that while negotiating with Arafat (and getting the Oslo Accords pushed through) was certainly not a mistake, having Israel not crack down on terrorism before 2002 or so certainly was a mistake.
 
Completely agreed with all of this. Also, though, in regards to Sharon, I honestly don't know what exactly he would have done in regards to the peace process had he lived.

In addition to this, though, I would like to point out that I think that the next left-wing Israeli Prime Minister (probably sometime in the 2020s) might be a military man due to the appealing image of left-wing military men to both sides. :) Of course, only time will tell for sure--after all, I could easily be wrong on this and Israel's next left-wing Prime Minister might be someone such as Lapid or Herzog instead. :)

Sharon's last years are... interesting.
I am under the impression that he sincerely wanted peace at the end, but the he, like Rabin, was not prepared to make the concessions to the Palestinians necessary to get a lasting one. And his personal history made him the most unlikely counterpart for a deal. Sabra and Shatila are heavy memory.

I would say that the Israeli left is probably past the point where it can manage the peace process in anything resembling the Oslo framework (sad as it is). It may be that saner sections of the right have a better chance at this point (President Rivlin actually has some interesting ideas about a confederal state; of course, the right's plans as they are now do not address that gigantic problem that is the Gaza Strip, unless you consider endlessy besieging the place a "plan").

Does Lapid pass for "left-wing" in Israel these days?
 
Sharon's last years are... interesting.
I am under the impression that he sincerely wanted peace at the end, but the he, like Rabin, was not prepared to make the concessions to the Palestinians necessary to get a lasting one. And his personal history made him the most unlikely counterpart for a deal. Sabra and Shatila are heavy memory.

Yes, I think that you are correct in regards to all of this.

I would say that the Israeli left is probably past the point where it can manage the peace process in anything resembling the Oslo framework (sad as it is). It may be that saner sections of the right have a better chance at this point (President Rivlin actually has some interesting ideas about a confederal state; of course, the right's plans as they are now do not address that gigantic problem that is the Gaza Strip, unless you consider endlessy besieging the place a "plan").

Maybe ... maybe. Of course, Israel's Parliament had a left-wing (well, if one considers Kadima to be left-wing) majority as late as the 2006-2009 time period; thus, you certainly could be wrong in regards to this. :)

Does Lapid pass for "left-wing" in Israel these days?

Sort of; as far as I know, he is considered to be center-left. :)
 
In regards to Hamas, here is what Hamas had to say on this topic in 2010:

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Hamas-will-honor-Palestinian-referendum-on-peace-deal

Whether Hamas was serious in regards to this, well, only time will tell.

Yep. In 2010. They had been holding similar positions for years, but I am not sure they were already there at the time of Taba (which was not offering as much anyway, IIRC). In 2007-2008, I don't know. Cast lead was a huge spanner in the works, so to speak.
 

LordKalvert

Banned
Actually, I would think that Clinton might have very well succeeded in making peace between Israel and the Palestinians if Arafat would have died 4 or 5 years earlier than he did in our TL. :)

No, not a chance. The "deal" that Clinton offered Arafat was atrocious and no Palestinian could ever have gotten it approved- Arafat's exact words "Are you going to walk in my funeral?" And Arafat could have given a lot more than the leadership today

America wants a peace process not peace- just delay it till I leave office
 
Maybe ... maybe. Of course, Israel's Parliament had a left-wing (well, if one considers Kadima to be left-wing) majority as late as the 2006-2009 time period; thus, you certainly could be wrong in regards to this. :)

Certainly; nobody can tell the future after all :).
Although I don't regard Kadima (or whatever has become of it; I do not follow Israeli poltics with the intensity of some years ago anymore) as left-wing.
 
No, not a chance. The "deal" that Clinton offered Arafat was atrocious and no Palestinian could ever have gotten it approved- Arafat's exact words "Are you going to walk in my funeral?" And Arafat could have given a lot more than the leadership today

America wants a peace process not peace- just delay it till I leave office
Frankly, you appear to be forgetting the fact that there were the Taba talks after the Camp David talks. :) Indeed, as far as I know, Israel's proposal at Taba was much better for the Palestinians than Israel's proposal at Camp David. :)
 
Certainly; nobody can tell the future after all :).
Although I don't regard Kadima (or whatever has become of it; I do not follow Israeli poltics with the intensity of some years ago anymore) as left-wing.
As far as I know, Kadima has already ceased to exist by now. :(
 
Yep. In 2010. They had been holding similar positions for years, but I am not sure they were already there at the time of Taba (which was not offering as much anyway, IIRC). In 2007-2008, I don't know. Cast lead was a huge spanner in the works, so to speak.
Well, let me research this and see what exactly I can find in regards to this. :)
 
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