"I'm not convinced that the maximum Israeli is ready to give anywhere near the minimum that Palestinians are ready to take," said Asaf Shariv, consul general of Israel in New York, Oct. 15, speaking in the Biotechnology Building on the Cornell campus.

In his talk on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Shariv described how right-wing Israelis had previously dreamed of an Israel that extended from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. But now, the majority of Israeli politicians, including the right wing, support a Palestinian state. The left used to assert that leaving settlement territories would result in peace. But recent events show that Israel's disengagement from more than 22 Gaza settlements and the relocation of 10,000 people back to the Israel border drawn in 1967 have launched more rockets than negotiations, Shariv said.

The fact remains that the conflict runs much more deeply, he said. In 2008, the Israeli government gave its most generous offer, in Shariv's opinion, to the Palestinians, including the right of return of some 50,000 refugees, international involvement in Jerusalem and a great deal of land. Yet Palestinian leaders still wished for more.

Yet, Shariv praised the efforts of new Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in combating terror, pointing to the West Bank as a model. The security fence, although controversial, has undoubtedly reduced civilian casualties to three from about 1,000, he said, since its completion six years ago. The West Bank is actually prospering financially since Israel removed 170 roadblocks and checkpoints, he said, and the economy had grown more than 5 percent in the first quarter of 2009 alone. It is now almost completely devoid of terrorist activity -- a far cry from the grim situation in Gaza.

Shariv remained positive regarding the peace process, citing agreements with many Arab countries and a successful relationship with Europe and the United States. But despite the great strides Israel has made, the greatest would be peace, which still looms elusive.

"Now, I can't say I'm very optimistic that it's going to happen in the coming years; it would probably take a miracle for that to happen," Shariv said. "But as our first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, said, 'In the Middle East, if you don't believe in miracles you are not a realist.' I think we are heading in the right direction."

For now, Shariv hopes Palestine can accept that Israel has the right to exist, despite Iranian pressure otherwise. It is difficult to negotiate with a government that refuses to speak to you, Shariv noted, referring to Hamas' continuing presence and influence.

"If we could find one Palestinian leader who could say a simple statement -- 'We want a Palestinian state to live side by side peacefully next to the state of the Jewish people,' all the rest would be easy to solve."

The event was part of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies Foreign Policy Distinguished Speaker Series and was co-sponsored by the Office of the Vice Provost for International Relations, Department of Near Eastern Studies, Program of Jewish Studies and Cornell Hillel.

Jennifer Wholey '10 is a writer intern for the Cornell Chronicle.