The horrific massacre of October 7th and the catastrophic carnage of the Gaza war demand that all sides of the 100+ year conflict reappraise whether there is not a better way forward – i.e. making a peace deal.

For the Zionist enterprise, this is a golden opportunity to take stock of the impressive achievements garnered by the state of Israel since its founding in 1948. It is also time for much-needed reckoning about the many mistakes that continue to be made. It is time for Israel to recognize that borders offer only limited security, and the only way to avoid endless war is a peace treaty with the people of Palestine.

A similar reckoning and revision by the people of Palestine will need to happen in parallel.

While history is important, there is considerable disagreement about the facts and the intentions of the parties. We are concerned with a just resolution that addresses the current realities and possibilities and that is informed — but not constrained — by history.

1. The residents of Israel / Palestine are descendants of the peoples who inhabited the region over the last 3000 years. Both peoples – Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs — have a historic right to live in the region.

2. Arabs have lived on the land continuously since around 600 CE, while the Jews were exiled or emigrated to other countries around the world – though a small Jewish population persisted continuously.

3. The global dispersal of the Jews brought both benefits (education, affluence) and catastrophes (pogroms, Holocaust) to the Jewish people, whether in the Christian countries of Europe or to a lesser degree the Islamic countries of the Arab world.

4. Zionism is justified both as a historical right of the Jewish people and as a practical need for a place where Jews could live in relative safety and be free from oppression.

5. The original settlement of Palestine by the modern Zionist movement was done within the parameters of international law – i.e. via land purchases in legal accord within the rules of the occupying powers.

6. The 1947 United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was inequitable to the Palestinian Arabs. Though they constituted 68% of the population they were allotted only 40% of the land, while the Jews who made up 32% of the population were allotted 55% of the land (the 5% balance constituted an international zone surrounding Jerusalem). Moreover, approximately 500,000 Arabs were living in the proposed Jewish state, while only 10,000 Jews were living in the proposed state of Palestine.

7. The displacement of 750,000 Palestinian Arabs as a result of the 1948 war was a historic injustice. Many parties were responsible: the UN, the Zionists, Arab leaders, and especially Great Britain.

8. Israel is diplomatically recognized by Egypt, Jordan, and other Arab nations, demonstrating that Israel’s neighbors are ready to live in peace, and dispelling the popular belief among most Israelis and many Jews that all the Arabs want to kill them.

9. The specifics of the peace plan will be negotiated and crafted by a task force consisting of Israel, Palestine, NATO, Jordan, and Egypt.

10. Adoption of the peace plan is contingent on the passage of voter referendums in Israel and Palestine.