Throughout all the months of negotiations led by US Secretary of State John Kerry, former Minister Yossi Beilin asked himself what, exactly, the Americans were trying to do and why they didn't understand that the attempt to reach a final status agreement is futile. The former Meretz chairman, who was also one of the architects of the Oslo Accord and the Geneva Initiative, hoped that perhaps there was information he was not privy to. But he knew very quickly that, as he had foreseen, no good would emerge from this round of talks.
In a May 28 interview with Al-Monitor, Beilin argues that assuming a permanent arrangement is not possible at this stage, the only implementable solution is an interim arrangement along the lines of former US President George W. Bush’s road map. And like those who preceded him, Beilin criticizes the way the Americans mediated between the sides in the recent months. The text of the interview follows: