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The Roadmap for Peace, developed by the United States, in cooperation with Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations (the Quartet), was presented to Israel and the Palestinian Authority on April 30. The plan is a performance-based, goal-driven plan, with clear phases, timelines, and benchmarks. It involves reciprocal steps by the two parties in the political, security, economic, and humanitarian fields. The destination is a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Ongoing good-faith efforts by both Israelis and Palestinians are required to implement the Roadmap. The pace of progress will grow solely out of their performance. The United States, other members of the Quartet, and regional Arab leaders will work to support and facilitate the process. They also will meet regularly to evaluate the parties’ performance in implementing the plan.
PHASE I: Ending Terror and Violence, Normalizing Palestinian Life, and Building Palestinian Institutions
- Palestinian leadership issues unequivocal statement reiterating Israel’s right to exist in peace and security and calling for an immediate end to all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere.
- Israeli leadership issues unequivocal statement affirming its commitment to the two-state vision of an independent, viable, sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel, and calling for an immediate end to violence against Palestinians anywhere.
- Palestinian institution-building includes drafting a constitution for Palestinian statehood and conducting free elections.
- Israel withdraws from Palestinian areas occupied since September 2000, as security progresses, freezes all settlement activity, and dismantles outposts. It takes measures to improve the Palestinian humanitarian situation.
PHASE II: Transition
- An independent Palestinian state is created with provisional borders and attributes of sovereignty. The Palestinian leadership continues to act decisively against terror and to build a practicing democracy based on tolerance and liberty.
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The United States and the Roadmap
- President Bush's vision of two states living side-by-side in peace and security as articulated in his June 24 speech, was the Roadmap foundation.
- The U.S. worked extensively with Russia, the United Nations, and the European Union (the Quartet) to design the Roadmap, and will work with them to advance it.
- President Bush traveled to the region in early June to initiate the Roadmap process.
- Secretary Powell traveled to the region in May and late June to help restore dialogue between the Israelis and the Palestinians and advance the Roadmap process.
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- An international conference will be convened by the Quartet after the Palestinian elections to support Palestinian economic recovery. Multilateral Middle East issues also will be addressed, including water, environment, economic development, refugees, and arms control issues.
PHASE III: Permanent Status Agreement and End of Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
- Palestinian reform is consolidated and its institutions stabilized while effective security performance is sustained. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations aim at a permanent status agreement in 2005.
- A second international conference convened by the Quartet leads to a final, permanent status resolution on borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and settlements. It also supports a comprehensive peace settlement between Israel and Lebanon and Israel and Syria, as soon as possible.
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