In the framework of the renewed discourse around the necessity for a political resolution post-October 7 and the various “day-after” proposals put forward by scholars and think-thanks, Ir Amim’s policy paper is an attempt to re-center Jerusalem within this dialogue.
The brutal Hamas-led attack on October 7 and the ensuing devastating war in Gaza painfully shattered the myth that “managing or shrinking the conflict” was a sustainable alternative to a negotiated political agreement. It further confirmed that the only way to achieve both lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike is through a mediated political agreement based on equality, justice, and self-determination. And there is no resolution without Jerusalem as the capital of both peoples.
However, Jerusalem’s designation as a “final status” issue in years of peace talks has only stalled negotiations and led to further deterioration of conditions in the city. Consecutive Israeli governments have continued to establish facts on the ground, which preemptively determine the city’s political future and further undermine the viability of a sustainable political solution. Since the outbreak of the war, the current Israeli government has been exploiting the circumstances to create irreparable changes in Jerusalem, while attention is diverted to the aftermath of October 7 and the catastrophic conditions in Gaza. This has played out in the major surg
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In the framework of the renewed discourse around the necessity for a political resolution post-October 7 and the various “day-after” proposals put forward by scholars and think-thanks, Ir Amim’s policy paper is an attempt to re-center Jerusalem within this dialogue.
The brutal Hamas-led attack on October 7 and the ensuing devastating war in Gaza painfully shattered the myth that “managing or shrinking the conflict” was a sustainable alternative to a negotiated political agreement. It further confirmed that the only way to achieve both lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians alike is through a mediated political agreement based on equality, justice, and self-determination. And there is no resolution without Jerusalem as the capital of both peoples.
However, Jerusalem’s designation as a “final status” issue in years of peace talks has only stalled negotiations and led to further deterioration of conditions in the city. Consecutive Israeli governments have continued to establish facts on the ground, which preemptively determine the city’s political future and further undermine the viability of a sustainable political solution. Since the outbreak of the war, the current Israeli government has been exploiting the circumstances to create irreparable changes in Jerusalem, while attention is diverted to the aftermath of October 7 and the catastrophic conditions in Gaza. This has played out in the major surge of new settlements alongside a dramatic spike in the displacement of Palestinians from their homes and the city through home demolitions and evictions. Measures further subverting the status quo and curtailing Muslim worship rights on the Haram al-Sharif/Temple Mount have likewise increased in addition to heightened acts of repression against Palestinian freedom of expression.
As Ir Amim’s new policy paper asserts, rather than relegating the political future of the city to “final status” negotiations, Jerusalem should serve as a starting point and as a key for resolving the conflict. Beyond its symbolic, religious, and political import to both Israelis and Palestinians and its spiritual and historical significance to three of the world’s major religions, Jerusalem is also home to the largest populations of both peoples who live in a one shared (albeit deeply unequal) urban space. Without disregarding the deep inequality and injustices implicit therein, Jerusalem’s complex reality can actually serve as a catalyst for future conflict resolution and a renewed political process predicated on the principles of equal rights, self-determination, and interdependence.
The paper therefore sets forth general guidelines for re-centering Jerusalem in the political discourse and lays out measures that can be adopted immediately to safeguard conditions for a just political agreement and ensure adherence to international law.
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