After fifty years of occupation, what's next: an open letter to President Mahmoud Abbas

You can put the Netanyahu government on the defensive by demanding first a process of reconciliation-people-to-people measures, for at least two years-to mitigate the deep distrust and allay concerns over security. You must make it abundantly clear that the Palestinians seek a state based on the 1967 borders, are open to territorial exchanges, and have no territorial ambitions beyond that.

You must start by condemning in the strongest terms any act of terror and violence, ending incitement in any form, and disabusing your public of the notion that Israel will someday disappear. You should ask for joint activities between Israeli and Palestinian youth in sports, art, and theater, and seek tourism in both directions. A strategy of reconciliation is necessary to pave the way for constructive peace talks.

This strategy will weaken the staunch right-wing Israeli parties who are possessed by the illusion that they can have it all, while strengthening the hands of the Israeli left and center who support the creation of a Palestinian state. They will be in a much stronger position to raise their voices and rally behind ending the occupation without being called traitors.

I am known for calling on ending the occupation in any form, but I am also known to call it as I see it. This, Mr. Abbas, is what you are confronted with. You must now use the argument of the hard-core Israelis who support the occupation against them. By adopting this new strategy, you will not only disarm them in droves, but you will also motivate a multitude of Israelis to rally behind the cause of ending the occupation.