Concepts
1.11.06
Initiatives and Agreements
2nd Phase of the Roadmap
Briefcase Print Send

2nd Phase of the Roadmap

The term refers to the intermediate phase of the Roadmap calling for the establishment of a Palestinian State with provisional borders.

Definition

The term "Second Phase of the Roadmap" refers to the set of Israeli and Palestinian obligations, outlined and framed by the Quartet as the intermediate phase of the Roadmap (4/03) – the framework for the Israeli-Palestinian political process. The essence of this phase is the creation of a Palestinian State with Provisional Borders (PSPB) leading to a Permanent Status Agreement in the Third Phase of the Roadmap.

Background

The Roadmap to a Permanent Two-State Solution to the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict is based on the Bush Vision to the Middle East (6/02), which presented an outline to resume the Israeli-Palestinian political process.

The Roadmap reverses the sequence of the Israeli-Palestinian Political Process as embodied in the Oslo Process, which was based on establishing a Palestinian State after Permanent Status Agreement.

The Roadmap cites the UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338 and the UN Security Council Resolution 1397 as forming the basis for the political process.

Prime Minister Sharon and PM Abu-Mazen accepted the Roadmap in the presence of President Bush at the Aqaba Summit (June 4, 2003).1

However, the Government of Israel presented a list of fourteen reservations. Israel stipulated that “the first condition for progress will be the complete cessation of terror, violence and incitement,” and that all subsequent progress would be conditioned on maintaining this calm. In other words, the establishment of a PSPB is conditioned upon dismantling terrorist capabilities and infrastructure.

Israel insisted that the character of the PSPB be determined through negotiations between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Israel.2 However, these reservations have no official standing.

The Roadmap does not indicate the extent of the authorities and powers of the PSPB. However it implies that the PSPB would have more inherent rights than the PA has today3 but less than the Palestinian State is expected to possess in Permanent Status.

The Second Phase of the Roadmap

The Second Phase of the Roadmap is characterized by:4

  • Creation of an independent Palestinian State with Provisional Borders through a process of Israeli-Palestinian engagement launched by an international conference.
  • A new constitution for a democratic, independent Palestinian state is finalized and approved by the appropriate Palestinian institutions. Further elections, if required, should follow the protocol established by the new constitution.
  • The Constitution will create the position of the Prime Minister, whose office will possess supervisory powers over the newly formed cabinet.
  • Quartet members will promote international recognition of the Palestinian state, including possible UN membership.

Currently, Israel insists upon the implementation of this stage of the Roadmap, while the Palestinians are opposed to the establishment of a Palestinian State with Provisional Borders.5


1 Click here for a timeline of the creation and acceptance of the Roadmap.
2 Click here for Israel’s response to the Roadmap.

“In the first phase of the plan and as a condition for progress to the second phase, the Palestinians will complete the dismantling of terrorist organizations (Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Popular Front, the Democratic Front Al-Aqsa Brigades and other apparatuses) and their infrastructure, collection of all illegal weapons and their transfer to a third party for the sake of being removed from the area and destroyed, cessation of weapons smuggling and weapons production inside the Palestinian Authority, activation of the full prevention apparatus and cessation of incitement. There will be no progress to the second phase without the fulfilment of all above-mentioned conditions relating to the war against terror.”

3 During the Oslo Process Israel was against the establishment of a Palestinian state and prevented the acquisition of symbols of statehood by the PA. According to the Interim Agreement (9/95) (Chapter 1 – the Council, Article IX – Powers and Responsibilities of the Council, Paragraph 5; Chapter 3 – Legal Affairs, Article XVII – Jurisdiction, Paragraph 1, Section – The PA will not have responsibility or power to conduct foreign affairs, including placing representation abroad such as embassies, consulates, summon or receive diplomatic teams and consulates or perform any diplomatic functions.
4 Click here for full text.
5 Abu-Mazen stated that a PSPB before a Permanent Status Agreement is a "trap" and that the Palestinians choose not to exercise this option. He called for the establishment of back channels to discuss a Permanent Status Agreement simultaneously with negotiations over the Roadmap ("New York Times", 2/14/05); The Fatah Central Committee rejected the idea of a temporary Palestinian state, and stressed its desire for the establishment of a fully sovereign Palestinian state. Click here for Fatah response; Abu-Ala declared that "We will not establish a state with a racist Separation Fence, there will not be a state with aggressive settlements in it and there will be no state unless it has all the rights of a state as well as the right of return" (7/26/05).