Does a hundred-year-old model of government still hold any value for the Middle East conflict today? Should Balfour, San Remo, and the British Mandate be celebrated and studied, or dismissed as outdated and an obstacle to peace?

A pertinent observation is made in the final chapter of the Pathway For Peace booklet, by Dr Mordechai Kedar, expert in Arab culture at Bar Ilan University. He notes that throughout the Middle East, failing states and successful states are distinguished by one primary factor. Failing states are artificial conglomerates of differing ethnic, religious or sectarian groups, whereas successful states are those based primarily on one clan, even if they include substantial minority or foreign populations. He advocates a clan-led Emirates model of self-government for substantial Palestinian cities, within a sovereign Jewish state from "the River to the Sea". This is one peace proposal among many, but one based on demonstrable evidence and consistent with the original documents we have looked at, established a century ago.
Photo - Dr Mordecai Kedar

The "pathway for peace" laid out in the Balfour Declaration, and then incorporated within binding international law treaties, was inspired by principles of government derived from the Jewish Scriptures. The Bible teaches that ethnic groups must govern themselves but also respect the dignity of minorities and foreigners as equal under the law. Self-determination is only one half of the picture. And these principles ought to apply equally to Jewish and Arab states, whether present or prospective, if they are to live in peace internally and externally.

Like any state, the State of Israel often fails to implement its laws fairly for all citizens, and its government is held to account by its independent judiciary. Yet, of all Middle Eastern countries, Israel offers by far the place of greatest safety and opportunity for all minorities. In doing so, it demonstrates the enduring value of the original "pathway for peace", in which Arab inhabitants of a Jewish homeland can also thrive. If, that is, they choose to accept the equal rights of the Jewish people to re-establish their national home in that sacred land.