Breaking the Impasse

Breaking the Impasse (BTI) is an advocacy group consisting of Israeli and Palestinian business leaders. BTI's aim is to urge the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority leadership to reach a peace agreement based on the two-state solution.[1]

BTI was launched in 2013 under the auspices of the World Economic Forum.[1] The leading members of the group are Palestinian businessman Munib al-Masri and Israeli high-tech entrepreneur Yossi Vardi.[1][2]

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry sits down with BTI members on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 24, 2014.

BTI has been backed by over 300 Israeli and Palestinian business figures.[1] [3] Of the group's members, around 120 are Palestinians from the West Bank or Jerusalem.[4]

History

Conception in Davos (2012)

The idea of forming a pressure group led by Israeli and Palestinian business figures was conceived at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in June 2012.[3]

Launch Press Conference (2013)

Breaking the Impasse was launched at a press conference in the Dead Sea on 26 May 2013. The press conference panel consisted of: Munib al-Masri, Yossi Vardi, Palestinian businessman Samir Huleileh (CEO of Padico Holdings) and Riad Kamal (then Vice-Chairman, Arabtec Holding), Israeli venture capitalist Yadin Kaufmann (Founding Partner, Sadara Ventures), and was chaired by Adrian Monck of the World Economic Forum.[5]

At the launch, Vardi stated:

“We saw 300 of the most influential people...[who] stood tall, and said ‘enough is enough'. This alone sent a clear and distinct tone to the politicians, and I think they will take it into consideration. Maybe we’ll fail… I don’t think that we will fail, but at least we will say that we tried as hard as we could.”[1]

Al-Masri stated:

“It’s not for us to iron out the details. We are worried by the status quo. We want to change the status quo… Now the Israeli and Palestinian side [of the initiative] are very honest in their appeal: They want to break the impasse… They want the two sides to negotiate… to push all the parties to engage in real negotiations.”[1]

Advertising campaign in Israel (2014)

In January 2014, BTI members launched a 10-day media campaign in Israel including advertisements in the press and public billboards. The campaign, which costed around $286,000, included the slogans such as “Bibi, only you can” (addressing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and “A strong country signs an agreement”.[6]

Supporting business figures

Palestinian supporters

Among the Palestinian supporters of BTI are:

Israeli supporters

Among the Israeli supporters of BTI are:

Failure

Following the 2014 Operation Protective Edge when Israel launched a military operation against Palestine, the initiative largely ground to a halt as the business leaders of both sides refused to cooperate before their political leaders made any moves.[10]

References
  1. Horovitz, David (26 May 2013). "Business-led peace bid unveiled in Jordan". The Times of Israel. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  2. Yahav, Telem (20 January 2014). "Israel's captains of industry fear boycott". ynet news (English). Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  3. Elis, Niv (14 May 2014). "Breaking The Impasse, at an impasse?". The Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 29 May 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  4. Jeffay, Nathan (28 February 2014). "Business Coalition Pushes Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu To Forge Peace Deal". Forward. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  5. "Jordan 2013 - Press Conference Breaking the Impasse". YouTube channel of World Economic Forum. 26 May 2013. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  6. Coren, Ora (29 January 2014). "Israeli Businesspeople Launch Campaign for Peace With Palestinians". Haaretz. Archived from the original on 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  7. Flanagan, Ben (26 May 2013). "Palestinian, Israeli business leaders unite to lobby for peace". Al Arabiya (English). Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  8. "MEET Board of Directors". Meet East Entrepreneurs of Tomorrow (MEET). Archived from the original on 19 November 2017. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  9. Ben-Israel, Adi (23 January 2014). ""A peace agreement can solve our economic woes"". Globes. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 25 July 2018.
  10. Shapiro, Ian. "Lecture 18: Political Limits of Business: The Israel-Palestine Case". Youtube. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
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