Experts in Washington feel that the key to renewing talks between Israel and the Palestinians after the March 17 elections is the security issue. To get to that point, Israel must seriously examine the ideas proposed by the Americans during the talks guided by Secretary of State John Kerry. Israeli political willingness to seriously consider the proposals could advance and determine the fate of negotiations, should talks resume.

A senior State Department official spoke to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity about the security concepts of a future Israeli-Palestinian agreement. He had this to say:

We presented last year a comprehensive security plan to the Israeli security establishment and to the government. This plan was the result of a planning process by Gen. John Allen and a large staff of US security experts. It had Israel's best security interests at heart. It outlined a variety of intelligence surveillance and monitoring mechanisms designed to prevent terror from the future Palestinian state and protect the border of Israel and Jordan (along the Jordan Valley) from hostile infiltrations. Temporary Israeli military presence was foreseen along the Jordan River, without infringing on Palestinian sovereignty. The US was willing to assist through surveillance from the ground and air and to provide state-of-the-art technology in this regard. The proposed plan was met by the Israeli defense establishment with serious consideration, alongside some professional reservations. At the political level, it was brushed off completely by the prime minister and minister of defense. It seemed to our experts as if the political echelon were looking for security arrangements that would actually make a two-state solution impossible.

The US State Department, according to this source, is currently reviewing its security plan in the context of policy planning for the post-election period. Counterterrorism in the Middle East is paramount to the Barack Obama administration, and the Americans firmly believe in the effectiveness of their security assistance to Israel. The source emphasized that security and peace policies must go hand in hand.