“As recently as 1990, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the South African struggle and the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland were considered equally irresolvable. The end of the Cold War brought the softening of old antagonisms and inspired renewed efforts at peacemaking in all three cases. But while South Africa made the transition to democracy, and Northern Ireland stabilized somewhat, the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians eventually collapsed into violence.

“Why? Because unlike the negotiations in South Africa and Northern Ireland, the Oslo process never created shared, public negotiating institutions composed of representatives from the various parties on both sides.”