The Russian Role in the Palestinian-Israeli Peace Process Between the Years 2010-2020 AD: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

Following President Donald Trump's decision to relocate the US Embassy to Jerusalem in December 2017, which disrupted prospects for peace in the region between Palestinians and Israelis, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) opposed the American unilateralism in sponsoring the peace process, demanding international participation, especially Russian participation, in an international committee to sponsor the peace process with the Israelis. Accordingly, the aim of the research was to examine Russia replacing the United States in sponsoring the peace process. This study also aimed to investigate the nature and trends of the Russian-Israeli relations and compare it with that of the Palestinian-Russian relations. Using the qualitative descriptive approach, the study concluded that the Russian relations with Israel are larger and deeper than the Russian-Palestinian relations in various fields. It is noteworthy that the chances of a Russian sponsorship of the peace process in the current period will be high given the rise of Russia's position in the regional and international system and given the clear decline in the role of the US. In order to increase the likelihood of Russian sponsorship of the peace process, the study recommends that the Palestinian National Authority adopt a plan to encourage both economic and security cooperation with Russia firstly, and a Palestinian-Syrian rapprochement secondly, and finally to demand the restoration of the role of the Office of the Quartet with Russia as one of its members, with a prominent role in the peace process.