December 04, 2018

When Middle East Peace Almost Happened

By Ilan Goldenberg and Martin Indyk

When Bill Clinton took over as President in 1992, his then Middle East advisor Martin Indyk told him he has a chance to partner with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin to secure peace treaties with Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and the Palestinians.

In this episode of Stories From The Backchannel, Indyk talks with host Ilan Goldenberg, Director of the Middle East Security Program at the Center for A New American Security, about Indyk's journey from Australia to becoming the US Ambassador to Israel, and his quest to bring peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Indyk recounts triumphs such as bringing PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat and Rabin to the White House for a historic summit. He also recalls heartbreaking setbacks such what it was like to being in the hospital with Rabin's family on the night the Prime Minister was assassinated. During the Obama administration Goldenberg and Indyk would wind up working together under Secretary of State John Kerry as the United States made another attempt to broker peace.

Through the lens of Indyk's decades long career trying to bring peace, listeners will be able to gain a broad sense of the challenges facing all sides and what the prospects are for the future.

Catch the rest of the "Stories from the Backchannel" series here.

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