From Beirut to Jerusalem

Content Warning: This section cites accounts of war violence, as well as criticisms of Arab culture that some readers may find offensive. 

Published in 1989, From Beirut to Jerusalem ends on a note of both caution and optimism regarding the prospect of peace between Israelis and Palestinians. By this time, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had recognized Israel, and the Arab states were ready to foreground the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) as the chief negotiator, and consequently, the occupied territories became the basis of a Palestinian state.

Following the book’s publication, and after years of negotiations, the government of Yitzhak Rabin signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, which reaffirmed PLO recognition of Israel, and in turn, Israel recognized the PLO as the sole legitimate voice of the Palestinian people, authorizing creation of a Palestinian Authority (PA) under PLO control to undertake various governance tasks in the West Bank, gradually expanding its remit. From the beginning, the peace process was fraught with difficulties. On the Israeli side, a right-wing extremist named Yigal Amir shot and killed Rabin in 1995, who had been pilloried by right-wing politicians (including a young Benjamin Netanyahu) for giving away too much without proper security guarantees.

On the Palestinian side, a new group named Hamas emerged in response to perceived inadequacies in the leadership of PLO chairman Arafat. Utilizing tactics such as suicide bombings, Hamas sought to underscore Arafat’s perceived inability to control the more militant factions within the Palestinian cause. The tumultuous years that followed saw a pivotal moment during the Camp David Summit in 2000, where President Bill Clinton proposed a peace deal. Arafat was offered control over all of Gaza, most of the West Bank, a partition of Jerusalem, and a modest resettlement plan for refugees. However, the intricacies of issues like the status of Jerusalem, the right of return for refugees, and defining borders proved insurmountable, leading Arafat to reject the proposal.

Israeli frustration with what was perceived as Arafat’s unwillingness to compromise fueled another wave of violence in the early 2000s. The subsequent years witnessed the George W. Bush administration’s endeavors to establish a “road map to peace,” but the region remained ensnared in conflict. The Second Intifada eventually concluded in 2005 with Israel’s complete withdrawal of forces and settlers from Gaza, coupled with sponsored Palestinian elections. Upon the electoral victory of Hamas, the political landscape faced fresh challenges. The PLO objected to Hamas’s success, leading to mutual condemnations and the establishment of parallel governments in Gaza and the West Bank. This division further complicated the pursuit of a unified Palestinian stance in negotiations with Israel. Since 2009, under the leadership of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the Israeli government has considered a peace process untenable so long as Hamas is part of the Palestinian political scene.

Throughout this period, settlements continued to expand at a rapid rate in the West Bank, until the legal notion of a Palestinian rump state in fact became several dozen islands separated from one another by checkpoints and security clearances. In the Obama and Trump administrations, the urgency of a two-state solution appeared to wane, as Hamas and the PA focused on governing their own territories, with only occasional outbursts of violence. Israel sought, and won, normalization agreements with many Arab states, suggesting that Arab outrage over the Palestinian issue was beginning to decline in favor of fear of their mutual enemy Iran. Hamas’s attack on October 7, 2023, shattered this illusion and has returned the Israel-Palestine conflict to the forefront of the world’s attention. Friedman remains a prominent voice speaking on the topic, citing the attack as an urgent sign to help the Palestinians build a functioning state and thereby deprive the radicals of their argument that only escalating levels of violence can effect a solution.