Much analysis and posturing is taking place these days about the “framework accord” that the United States government will soon put on the table as its conception of a fair, comprehensive and permanent peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians.A bilateral negotiation between Israelis and Palestinians has been transformed, with Washington’s active role, into a three-way process in which each side is deciding its own moves and anticipating what the others will do in the wake of the success or failure of the framework accord.

The anticipated diplomatic moves by Israelis and Palestinians remain unclear, however.

Striking in this whole process is the almost total absence of initiatives by the Palestinian leadership, and the necessary mobilization of the three critical support communities that can help advance the Palestinian diplomatic position: the scattered Palestinians themselves across the region and the world, the Arab states that remain broadly supportive of Palestinian rights, and the significant international support for the Palestinian cause, especially since the Palestinians accepted the principle of a two-state solution that anticipates coexistence with Israel within its pre-1967 borders.