Jonny Gould's Jewish State

Find the rest of Jonny's podcasts here and support him with a well-earned coffee here. I was in Brussels as the European Jewish Association gathered experts together from all backgrounds to discuss Middle East post October 7th. In between sessions in the hotel conference centre, I found myself outside the entrance with Ghaith al-Omari, taking in the fresh air and we started talking.  Sporting a blue pinstripe suit, Bohemian ponytail and smoking what looked like a Gitanes, Ghaith and I drummed up a chat that moved onto the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, which he was involved in.  As part of the Palestinian Authority, he advised the negotiating team during the permanent-status negotiations for two years from 1999, including the Camp David summit and the Taba talks. It broke down, as we know, but then he helped draft the Geneva Initiative, an unofficial model aimed at a modified resolution. He’s now a Senior Fellow at The Washington Institute, where he continues to provide insights on Palestinian politics, M