Israel’s Perceptions of the PLO: From Recognition to the ‘No Partner’ Paradigm

Abstract

The widespread conception within Israel that there is ‘no partner’ for peace on the Palestinian side lies in the failure to distinguish between the recognition of the State of Israel and recognizing it as a Jewish state. Seeking the PLO to explicitly recognize the State of Israel on the eve of the signing of the Declaration of Principles had transformed into the demand to recognize Israel as the Jewish state as the prerequisite for final status negotiations. While the former was an essential precondition for the Oslo accords, the latter is highly controversial and mirrors a disputed ideological stand between Israel and the Palestinians.

Keywords

Declaration of Principles Jewish state Mandate Palestine Oslo Process Palestinian Authority PLO

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