While the challenge regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict posed by US Secretary of State John Kerry on December 28, 2016, shortly before the end of his term in office, was directed primarily at Israel, it was also aimed at the Palestinians. In his speech, Kerry stipulated the starting points for any future talks between the sides, yet ignoring the fact that in previous rounds of negotiations held over the last twenty years toward a permanent status agreement both sides have rejected these principles. Furthermore, the Secretary of State ignored the turbulence in the Middle East of recent years, although this upheaval demands a reexamination of the traditional negotiations paradigm.

Kerry called on the sides to accept six basic negotiations principles that were adopted by the Obama administration toward a permanent status agreement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. If the speech is not translated into a UN General Assembly or Security Council resolution, it will amount to an important document without any practical significance. However, if these principles are adopted by the international peace conference scheduled to be held in Paris in mid-January and are accepted by the Palestinians, they will form the political and moral basis for the next moves in resolving the conflict.

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