Moratinos to Asharq Al-Awsat: Any Initiative Lacking 2-State Solution Will not Achieve Peace

High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos, Asharq Al-Awsat
High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos, Asharq Al-Awsat
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Moratinos to Asharq Al-Awsat: Any Initiative Lacking 2-State Solution Will not Achieve Peace

High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos, Asharq Al-Awsat
High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) Miguel Moratinos, Asharq Al-Awsat

Any peace initiative between the Palestinians and Israel that “does not recognize the two-state solution will not achieve peace,” Miguel Moratinos, the High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC), said.
 
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, the former EU envoy for the peace process in the Middle East called for “building on previous negotiations” and stressed that the entire international community should be involved in the solution, not only a third party.
 
Moratinos is visiting Cairo as part of his mission to support the dialogue of civilizations and religions worldwide.

He said he did not have details about the so-called US “deal of the century,” but only a reading of the ideas that are being put forward.
 
The former foreign minister of Spain emphasized that achieving peace was possible. “But it requires the involvement of the concerned parties in real peace, based on what has been achieved in the past… For this to happen, the international community must be fully concerned.”
 
Asked about the American “bias” towards Israel, Moratinos said he could not judge on this matter, adding that the mistake was the reliance on a single third party, the US, while the crisis required the presence of other international parties.
 
On UNAOC’s role in promoting dialogue among civilizations and peoples of the world, the UN official explained that the organization’s priorities were the prevention and the identification of the causes of conflict of a social, cultural and religious nature, and the activation of mediation to reduce conflicts before they begin.
 
He highlighted three main frameworks to target - the youth, education and media.
 
The Spanish diplomat stressed that fighting terrorism should come through “changing the thinking and hearts of extremists,” which is “necessary for a better life for all societies.”
 
On the Arab-European relations, the UN representative noted that his previous work in the region made him aware of the importance and specificity of those relations, which he described as “good,” but “lacking continuity and strategic plans for dealing in all political and economic fields.”



Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
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Hochstein to Asharq Al-Awsat: Land Border Demarcation between Lebanon, Israel ‘is Within Reach’

AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon
AFP file photo of Amos Hochstein speaking to reporters at the Grand Serail in Beirut, Lebanon

The former US special envoy, Amos Hochstein, said the maritime border agreement struck between Lebanon and Israel in 2022 and the ceasefire deal reached between Israel and Hezbollah at the end of last year show that a land border demarcation “is within reach.”

“We can get to a deal but there has to be political willingness,” he said.

“The agreement of the maritime boundary was unique because we’d been trying to work on it for over 10 years,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“I understood that a simple diplomatic push for a line was not going to work. It had to be a more complicated and comprehensive agreement. And there was a real threat that people didn’t realize that if we didn’t reach an agreement we would have ended up in a conflict - in a hot conflict - or war over resources.”

He said there is a possibility to reach a Lebanese-Israeli land border agreement because there’s a “provision that mandated the beginning of talks on the land boundary.”

“I believe with concerted effort they can be done quickly,” he said, adding: “It is within reach.”

Hochstein described communication with Hezbollah as “complicated,” saying “I never had only one interlocutor with Hezbollah .... and the first step is to do shuttle diplomacy between Lebanon, Lebanon and Lebanon, and then you had to go to Israel and do shuttle diplomacy between the different factions” there.

“The reality of today and the reality of 2022 are different. Hezbollah had a lock on the political system in Lebanon in the way it doesn’t today.”

North of Litani

The 2024 ceasefire agreement requires Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and for the Lebanese army to take full operational control of the south Litani region, all the way up to the border. It requires Hezbollah to demilitarize and move further north of the Litani region, he said.

“I don’t want to get into the details of other violations,” he said, but stated that the ceasefire works if both conditions are met.

Lebanon’s opportunity

“Lebanon can rewrite its future ... but it has to be a fundamental change,” he said.

“There is so much potential in Lebanon and if you can bring back opportunity and jobs - and through economic and legal reforms in the country - I think that the future is very bright,” Hochstein told Asharq Al-Awsat.

“Hezbollah is not trying to control the politics and remember that Hezbollah is just an arm of Iran” which “should not be imposing its political will in Lebanon, Israel should not be imposing its military will in Lebanon, Syria should not. No one should. This a moment for Lebanon to make decisions for itself,” he added.