Conversations with History: Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Beilin

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a Conversation with History. I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Yossi Beilin, who is a former minister of justice in the Israeli Cabinet. Long involved in the search for peace in the Middle East, he was an initiator of the dialogue with the Palestinians, an architect of the Oslo Accords, and most recently, an architect of the Geneva Accords, a peace initiative negotiated by nongovernmental actors from both the Palestinian and Israeli side. He is also presently involved in the formation of a new political party in Israel, the Democratic Party.

1. The Oslo Accords ... bridgeable solutions ... failure of the Oslo Accords ... Barak's mistaken policy ... importance of ideology ... Zionism ... Palestinian turn to violence ... mistaken assumption that violence can be controlled ... mutual misperceptions
2. The Geneva Accords ... continuation of Taba ... proving a solution is possible ... building on previous agreements ... three-phase roadmap ... building a coalition for peace ... "Yes to an Agreement" ... support outside of Israel/Palestine ... demographic time bomb ... South African analogy ... role of leadership ... the fence
3. Perspectives on the Future ... two narratives ... hope and optimism ... recognizing that the ice is thin

See also the 1998 interview with Yossi Beilin and Faisal Husseini, "A Dialogue on the Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process,"

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