‘Israel and Palestinian Authority both need to be pressured to move forward with peace’

Both the Palestinian Authority and Israel need to be pressured from the outside to move forward with a peace deal, former Shin Bet chief MK Yaakov Peri (Yesh Atid) told The Jerusalem Post in a recent interview.

Peri is a rare breed, having worked on security issues since joining the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) in 1966, but also having played the violin from first grade until the present. But how this violinist who dreamed of a career as a musician fell into the Shin Bet and rose to be its chief and a minister in the 2013-2015 government is a story for another time.

With his party leader, Yair Lapid, leading or tied with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the polls for the next election, Peri dived, with the Post, deep into the details of how Lapid could get a peace deal done where Netanyahu has not.

Peri started by describing the need for parallel regional and bilateral negotiations, saying that “I have no doubt that to start a straight bilateral process between us and the PA will lead to failure, whether because of them or because of us – blame it on whoever you want.

 

Read More: ‘Israel and Palestinian Authority both need to be pressured to move forward with peace’ – Arab-Israeli Conflict – Jerusalem Post