JERUSALEM — The latest odd couple in the quixotic quest for Middle East peace is a pair of iconoclastic billionaires — one Israeli, one Palestinian — who say they want to push their wary political leaders back to the negotiating table.
At the World Economic Forum at a Dead Sea resort in Jordan on Sunday, Israeli venture capitalist Yossi Vardi and Palestinian oil tycoon Munib al-Masri announced that they had been working on a secret project for the past year — forming a united front of 200 top business leaders from Israel and the West Bank to persuade their respective leaders to back Secretary of State John F. Kerry's effort to restart peace talks, which have essentially been flatlined since late 2008.
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It's the new peace camp, but unlike the scores of advocacy groups and diplomats before it, this one is led by moguls with very deep pockets.
The group calls itself "Breaking the Impasse" and includes corporate heavyweights from the left and right, religious and secular, who don't agree on the details — except that there should be a state of Israel and a state of Palestine, both living peacefully and side by side.
Many are controversy-averse chief executives of major Israeli and Palestinian corporations, and for a year before the group's debut, they were quietly courted by Masri, 80, and Vardi, 70, in what the two called "safe spaces" — such as the sidelines of global economic conferences in Istanbul, Geneva and Davos, Switzerland.
"We are a silent majority, but we will be silent no longer," said Vardi, a high-tech impresario and angel investor who is known as the "Godfather" of Tel Aviv's version of Silicon Valley. A backer of more than 60 start-ups, developer of instant messaging and adviser to Amazon.com, Vardi is one of Israel's richest men — and pals with actor Ashton Kutcher.
"I don't know if this is about grandkids," Vardi said, referring to a claim that aspiring peacemakers here often make. "I do know it's good for Israel, and it's good for the Palestinians," to seek a two-state solution, he said.
Nothing about their pitch is really new, he said, except that the top business leaders on both sides are trying to get involved, and the timing might be good. "It is understandable after all these years to be skeptical, but not to be cynical," he said.
Vardi was involved in Israel's previous peace negotiations with Egypt, Jordan and Syria, so he says nothing is impossible.
Masri, Vardi and a small delegation met privately with Kerry in Washington on March 12. At the Dead Sea, the secretary of state praised the pair of tycoons as "visionaries."
But they appear to be working at odds. On Sunday, Kerry unveiled a $4 billion private-sector economic development proposal for the West Bank. Masri said the business leaders he is working with would not enter into any partnerships until a peace process is underway.
"In terms of influence, I believe the group represents a meaningful percentage of the gross domestic product of Israel, and probably a bit more than that in the West Bank," said Klaus Schwab, a German economist and founder of the World Economic Forum.
31 May, 2013
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