Panel Discussions - Friday, June 25, 2010
Israeli, Palestinian Leaders Debate Middle East Peace at IPI
On June 25th, Palestinian Chief Negotiator Saeb Erakat and Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Dan Meridor debated the current Israeli-Palestinian peace process before a packed audience at IPI that included members of the press, UN ambassadors, and others guests from academia and the diplomatic community.
Click "play" button at left to watch the debate.
CNN reported the following about the event:
"Meridor said that the Israelis were committed to a two-state solution, but accused the Palestinian Authority of failing to make 'tough choices' and taking an 'all or nothing' approach. He also said that the Palestinians did not sense the urgency of the situation, and were holding out for a perfect solution.
"Erakat said the Palestinians were ready to come to the table as soon as Israel agrees to stop settlement expansion into the West Bank and restart negotiations initiated by former-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert."
The two participants insisted the discussion did not constitute negotiations.
The event was moderated by IPI President Terje Rød-Larsen.
Read transcript
More videos from this event:
First half of Q&A (27:20)
Second half of Q&A (38:03)
Listen to a podcast of the event (1:38:39):
Get podcast of this event from iTunes
Press coverage of this event:
Erakat Says Israel ‘Will Sweat’ Without Progress on Peace Talks (Bloomberg)
Israeli and Palestinian officials hold informal dialog (CNN)
Erakat: Israel Gov't Has One Choice, Settlements or Peace... Can't Have Both (Al Jazeera)
Palestinian, Israeli officials argue Mideast peace (Associated Press)
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