In June 2010, the Aix Group published its fourth stage of research: “Economic Dimensions of a Two-State Solution between Israel and Palestine, Vol. II.” This work represents an extension and elaboration of the Aix Group’s previous work on the economic dimensions of final status issues:
(1) application-pdf”The Big Picture”: The Political and Economic Alternatives Facing the Israelis and Palestinians” includes an analysis of the major issues affecting Israelis and Palestinians in 2009 explaining the failure to achieve a permanent agreement so far. The paper focuses on Aix Group’s reverse engineering approach and addresses also the asymmetry in power between the two sides.
(2) The Territorial Link paper analyses the important geographical, and economic contiguity of the Palestinian state; how to connect the West Bank and Gaza and what are the best options from both sides’ perspectives.
(3) The Jordan Valley paper unveils the potential of this region for the Palestinian economy; how to move forward economically, with identified immediate, short and medium term actions.
(4) The Palestinian Refugees paper covers further mechanisms on both the national and international levels which are necessary to implement a solution, and the roles and responsibilities of each party in the implementation; In particular the paper elaborate the work of the Group in 2007 by proposing a more detailed structure for the International Agency for the Palestinian Refugees (IAPR) and explains that this agency should start working as soon as possible.
(5) The Union for the Mediterranean paper analyses specific initiatives which need to be undertaken by all parties and especially by the EU in order to ensure that an equitable agreement between Israelis and Palestinians is reached, and the idea of a Mediterranean Union is successfully implemented.
The objectives of this phase in the Aix Group work, undertaken by joint Israeli-Palestinian-international working groups, is to examine the economic dimensions of the conflict, including current economic and political issues which affect the final status negotiations and inform decision-makers and the public.