You can learn it in a negotiations course - Haaretz

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Sat., November 03, 2007 Cheshvan 22, 5768

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You can learn it in a negotiations course

By Aluf Benn

tags: negotiations

It is not easy to discuss the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians in a practical manner, without past grudges. Too many emotions, historical memories and political interests are involved, turning every discussion of a solution to the conflict into a slogan contest: "diplomatic horizon," "partition of Jerusalem," "right of return."

Sometimes it pays to observe even events close to home from a distance, and to learn from the advice of others. Jeanne Brett and Lee Thompson, professors from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University in Chicago, study and teach how to conduct negotiations. The model they have developed is universal, and is supposed to suit any situation - from buying a house and finding a job to agreements between huge corporations and governments. The two have studied commercial negotiations and labor relations.

They have not taken an interest in the Oslo Accords or in Camp David, nor have they read the "road map," but their observations are also relevant to the discussions now being held by Ehud Barak and Tzipi Livni with Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) and Abu Ala, and explain some of the past failures.

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In their opinion, the preferred approach to solving conflicts relies on finding and leveraging the interests of both parties. That enables give-and-take and increases the chances that the agreement will be implemented. This appeal to interests is preferable to using force - as Israel does in the case of the settlements and the checkpoints, and to demanding rights - as the Palestinians do, always bringing dust-covered UN resolutions to the negotiating table and making claims in the name of "international legitimacy." Even a discussion of interests sometimes has to slide over into a forcing of hands and demands in the name of justice, but it must not get stuck there.

According to the professors, a common mistake in negotiations - which always leads to a blow-up - is putting the "final proposal" on the table, an offer that the other side can either accept or reject in its entirety, without being able to bargain over its details. Research shows that proposals of this type are doomed to a negative response. Anyone given such a proposal will think that it benefits his rival and will reject it out of hand.

This is the explanation for the failure of the Camp David summit. As opposed to the image of Yasser Arafat as a man with delusions who serially misses opportunities, he behaved like any reasonable person when he rejected the "absolutely final offer" of Ehud Barak and Bill Clinton. Arafat acted instinctively, and was right in practical terms: The offers made to the Palestinians by Clinton and Barak improved immeasurably after Camp David, mainly at the Taba talks.

Olmert should have expected a refusal when he presented Hamas with the "Quartet conditions," headed by recognition of Israel, as an uncompromising demand. Hamas replied with a resounding "No," in spite of boycotts, pressures and threats that the electricity would be cut off, although as opposed to the Camp David summit, we can assume that this time Olmert and the U.S. administration were interested in a negative reply instead of rapprochement.

Brett and Thompson warn of the temptation to agree on the simple problems and to postpone the difficult issues to the end of the negotiations. They believe that it is preferable to discuss the entire package rather than separate paragraphs. If the easy issues are removed from the table first, one loses the ability to bargain over the "core issues."

Israel prefers interim agreements that will focus on trivialities, such as the color of the Palestinian policemen's uniforms, and will put off the discussion of Jerusalem, refugees and permanent borders. That is Livni's proposal, which lies as the base of the Israeli position in advance of the Annapolis meeting: to discuss the "nature of the Palestinian state," and to set aside the "core" for the time being. It is politically advantageous and protects the coalition, but it harms the chances for a future agreement. When they get around to discussing Jerusalem, the parties won't have anything left to give in exchange.

The scholars' final advice concerns negotiations between representatives from various cultures and nations. Here it is important to prepare well, and to understand the internal codes, symbols and sensitivities of the parties.

On this matter everyone has made mistakes - Israelis, Palestinian and Americans, none of whom really understood their interlocutors. In the short time remaining until Annapolis, the negotiators should undergo an accelerated course and avoid the mistakes that caused their predecessors to fail.

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1.	learn it	10:17	\|	Ralph	01/11/07

2.	Israel doesn`t want peace, period	10:34	\|	Turk	01/11/07

3.	ARAFAT DIDN`T ACT INSTINCTIVELY	10:43	\|	indrajaya	01/11/07

4.	Negotiations...	10:45	\|	S	01/11/07

5.	The `good wolf` PA is about to be eaten by `bad wolf` Hamas, so..	10:51	\|	Pavel	01/11/07

6.	How long does the show go on?	11:19	\|	Esther	01/11/07

7.	All perform their tragic play...	11:27	\|	Dave	01/11/07

8.	does haaretz understand the word negotiate ?	11:31	\|	victor hardman	01/11/07

9.	....finding and leveraging the interests of both parties.	11:40	\|	Simon	01/11/07

10.	Barak`s offer	11:43	\|	Truth	01/11/07

11.	I`ve been saying it for years.	11:47	\|	Michael	01/11/07

12.	A summit is not a failure if it brings a good laugh	11:48	\|	Natallie Durson	01/11/07

13.	DON`T BE FOOLED BY BAN KI-MOON	11:50	\|	indrajaya	01/11/07

14.	just what israel wants	11:53	\|	ravi	01/11/07

15.	This is such a joke	11:57	\|	Stephen Murray	01/11/07

16.	just what israel wants	12:02	\|	ravi	01/11/07

17.	#15 what is stephen smoking ?	12:18	\|	victor hardman	01/11/07

18.	Israels monumental task: How to get rid of a "trickser" image ???	12:24	\|	Swiss (Dino)	01/11/07

19.	The White Elephant---- the Territories	13:02	\|	Johanes Franzen	01/11/07

20.	The White Elephant---- the Territories	13:05	\|	Johanes Franzen	01/11/07

21.	Remember - Sewage Flows DOWNHILL !	13:07	\|	Klaudia	01/11/07

22.	To Dave # 7 - On Yeats	13:14	\|	Klaudia	01/11/07

23.	the swedish wraith reappears but the message is	13:18	\|	victor hardman	01/11/07

24.	Who says there will be negotiations in Annapolis?	13:21	\|	Tosefta	01/11/07

25.	Without any serious goal...	13:35	\|	Anne	01/11/07

26.	we love you Atilla, we love you Atilla , YOU LIERS !	13:45	\|	......	01/11/07

27.	we love you Atilla, we love you Atilla , YOU LIERS !	13:45	\|	......	01/11/07

28.	israel`s strategy	13:51	\|	magnified glass	01/11/07

29.	"No Israelies in Israel" how to become an Israeli ?	13:59	\|	Atilla	01/11/07

30.	Tosefta#24 - I agree	14:02	\|	S	01/11/07

31.	My baby haaretz :) I realy love you	14:10	\|	Your Achi	01/11/07

32.	Peace or peace process	14:22	\|	whodey	01/11/07

33.	It doesn`t take two professors from Kellogg	15:26	\|	Michael N	01/11/07

34.	Don`t do it, Condi!	15:42	\|	Kovacic	01/11/07

35.	Arafat the "instinctive"...	15:53	\|	Fortuna Benmayor	01/11/07

36.	Expose the Israelis at Annapolis	15:55	\|	Phillies Wright	01/11/07

37.	It would be Enough for a Start	16:02	\|	Tzfonit	01/11/07

38.	Still dreaming Mr. Benn?	16:20	\|	Mark Lincoln	01/11/07

39.	Tzfonit	16:48	\|	Danite	01/11/07

40.	Pavel (#5) makes a critical point	18:02	\|	Voice of Reason	01/11/07

41.	Danite	18:11	\|	Tzfonit	01/11/07

42.	Nothing big is going to happen	18:13	\|	Margie in Tel Aviv	01/11/07

43.	The core issue: Whose land is this?	18:48	\|	Chaim	01/11/07

44.	The result of keeping Hamas out	19:42	\|	Tosefta	01/11/07

45.	Now what were the odds on that, 1-1?	19:43	\|	Ha ha ha ha ha ha	01/11/07

46.	Tzfonit Hello	19:44	\|	danite	01/11/07

47.	To Phillies Wright	19:46	\|	Ha ha ha ha ha ha	01/11/07

48.	Margie fasten your seat belt	19:48	\|	Danite	01/11/07

49.	Well Danite, I never said it would be easy	20:02	\|	Tzfonit	01/11/07

50.	Tosefta, Swiss(Dino) M.Lincoln	20:05	\|	tadchase	01/11/07

51.	#21 But Klaudia - have you forgotten the UPLIFTING NOTION	20:15	\|	Smadar	01/11/07

52.	Annapolis	20:28	\|	Realist	01/11/07

53.	The letter (Tadchase #50)	20:29	\|	Tosefta	01/11/07

54.	#44 Tosefta	20:40	\|	whodey	01/11/07

55.	Annapolis the last chance for a two state solution	20:40	\|	Keith Abraham	01/11/07

56.	Tzfonit I agree	20:56	\|	Danite	01/11/07

57.	Aluf Benn makes 2 important facts:	21:01	\|	Smadar	01/11/07

58.	#54 whoedy	21:14	\|	Smadar	01/11/07

59.	Tosefta	21:25	\|	tadchase	01/11/07

60.	Tosefta #44	21:52	\|	S	01/11/07

61.	# 50 tadchase "Lonely preachers in the (U.S.) desert".....	21:59	\|	Swiss (Dino)	01/11/07

62.	Check PhD`s logic (S #56)	22:10	\|	Tosefta	01/11/07

63.	tadchase - the consequences of failure	22:18	\|	Mark Lincoln	01/11/07

64.	Whodey, I repeat We should have talked to Hamas THEN	22:24	\|	Tzfonit	01/11/07

65.	#62 Tosefta again using name calling instead of answering	22:39	\|	S	01/11/07

66.	Can the "Palestinians" deliver Peace?	22:48	\|	Scharker Yid	01/11/07

67.	you are right. until pals implement very first agreement no meeti	22:51	\|	ralph	01/11/07

68.	# 50 tadchase, little correction to my # 61	23:03	\|	Swiss (Dino)	01/11/07

69.	What are the core issues?	23:13	\|	Jonathan S	01/11/07

70.	Israel has no Plans for Peace	23:29	\|	Billy T	01/11/07

71.	# 2 Turk	23:32	\|	Lynn	01/11/07

72.	# 18 Swiss and at the same time,	23:39	\|	Lynn	01/11/07

73.	Terrorism and the Iranian nuclear Holocaust are the core issues	00:58	\|	Briton	02/11/07

74.	# 67 Lynn "To be able and not to be able (to get it...)"	01:04	\|	Swiss (Dino)	02/11/07

75.	PA has no right to interfere in Israel´s internal affairs!	01:36	\|	Alicia	02/11/07

76.	Core Issues cut both ways	01:57	\|	Peter	02/11/07

77.	TO Tzfonit	02:02	\|	Peter	02/11/07

78.	THE L-RD OUR RIGHTIOUSNESS ?	02:36	\|	Bill	02/11/07

79.	No S, rather the cold view of logic	03:12	\|	Mark Lincoln	02/11/07

80.	Chaim - the core issue is colonisation	05:54	\|	Truth	02/11/07

81.	Mark Lincoln @79	08:16	\|	S	02/11/07

82.	#80truth has no idea of the truth	09:41	\|	victor hardman	02/11/07

83.	# 80 A truth that must be told...	12:28	\|	Dutch	02/11/07

84.	Aluf Benn, An honest broker would help lead the way...	02:17	\|	Dutch	03/11/07

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