I N T E R V I E W : F O U N D E R O F L I B E R A L T H I N K- TA N K

Dr. Baskin works the gears of peace

Activist sets forth the conditions that make the time ripe for peace in Israel

More than 10 months have passed since President Barack Obama entered the White House and seven months since Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took over the reins in Jerusalem and there is still no peace process worth mentioning.

Netanyahu campaigned on the slogan of “economic peace” and boasted that he would help the Palestinians build their state from the bottom up by strengthening their economy and thereby “giving them something to lose,” so that they will not revert back to violence.

The peace process has once again entered a dead end. Senator George Mitchell has fallen into the trap of negotiating about negotiations. There is little chance that bilateral negotiations at this time will be capable of producing agreements on either the Israeli-Palestinian or Israel-Syria track. The US mediator has been focusing on “process” rather than “substance”.

The current water crisis is extremely serious. Years of mismanagement and irresponsible water policies are now being investigated by the state comptroller. This is not the first time that the water sector is under the scrutiny of a public investigatory committee. In June 2001 the Knesset conducted a similar investigation and reported on serious dysfunctionality, but it seems that very little has changed since then.