Secrets of Israeli Negotiation Science

Dr. Ahmed Rafiq Awad

I confess that I have always been fascinated by the hellish capabilities and methods employed by Israeli negotiators, whether in secret or public, political, military, or commercial negotiations. Because of this, I devoted an entire chapter to Israeli negotiations in my novel "The End of the Century," which was published by Dar Al Majed and the Palestinian Writers Union exactly twenty years ago.
Today I find myself compelled to repeat, revised and expanded, the words about the Israeli negotiation. In reality, it is not negotiation, but rather taking advantage of the moment and seizing the situation, knowing opponents and enemies with precise knowledge, the great ability to deconstruct everything and redefine the terms and facts and redefine and re-define the definitions and terms, and the iron patience to exhaust the enemy, besiege him, strip him of his options and demonize his positions. Negotiation in this case means possessing power. Let us admit that. The strong is the one who manages any negotiation process. The weak does not negotiate, but rather engineers his exit from the scene, and his only virtue is to minimize his losses or preserve as much face as possible, if face remains at all.
I feel compelled to return to this topic after all we have heard and witnessed of the arduous and arduous negotiations that took place over the course of a year and seven months between Israel and the Arab and Palestinian parties. This long and provocative process witnessed many secrets of Israeli negotiation, including the following:
First, Israel determined the content and method of the negotiations according to its own agenda and interests. It did not accept Hamas's initial offer, which called for the release of all prisoners in exchange for a ceasefire, a withdrawal, and the release of Palestinian prisoners. By escalating the war, Israel sought to impose the method and content of the negotiations. The form of the negotiations serves their content, and this is a principle that must not be compromised.
Second: Demonizing the enemy by making it appear that he is being strict, refusing, or taking his decisions from other parties, and by claiming that he is adventurous and crazy, that he does not care about his people, that he is immature, or that he suffers from internal divisions and disagreements. Israel usually claims that those who engage in dialogue with it do not have a single position, but rather that there are several moderate and extremist positions. And of course, Israel usually intervenes to “adjust” the balance.
Third: Israel often suggests or dictates proposals that may seem attractive, forcing the enemy to settle in one way or another. Then, suddenly, Israel changes its position on the settlement it itself proposed. This is one of the most bizarre tactic Israel employs, and it seems to aim to push the enemy toward a free concession or the possibility of abandoning its positions. This, in turn, allows Israel to gain free negotiating positions.
Fourth: Israel is making its delegation a secondary issue that disrupts the negotiations themselves, through the delegation's mandate, composition, and scope of authority. It is prepared to cast doubt on the delegation it sent, accusing it of not managing the negotiations well, or even concealing or manipulating its positions. This is also one of the most bizarre diplomatic behaviors, as a country casts doubt on its own negotiating delegation.
Fifth: Israel is emptying mediation and mediators of meaning and substance by accusing them of inaccuracy, dishonesty, or a desire to disrupt or derail negotiations. Israel is also attempting to cast doubt on each other, buy some off, or exclude others.
Sixth: Israel tends to scrutinize procedural and detailed matters more than it tends to discuss substantive issues. Israel believes that achieving accomplishments in procedural matters will first bring it closer to its greater goals, and second, will increase the enemy's fatigue.
Seventh: For Israel, the media narrative is the most important aspect of the negotiation. Demonization, misinformation, smoke bombs, conflicting reports, contradictory positions, leaked news, and concealed sources are an integral part of the negotiation process, influencing the public to feel frustrated, hopeless, or falsely or naively optimistic, or even to influence the enemy negotiator himself.
Eighth: Using negotiations as a means of continuing the war through pressure, subjugation, managing public relations, and absorbing internal and external pressures.
Despite all of this and more, no one should believe that the Israeli negotiator is intelligent - despite his historical experience - or that he is different from the Arab or Western negotiator, at all. What allows the Israeli negotiator to appear as if he has tremendous options, many alternatives, and amazing abilities to evade or escape is his possession of power in all its types and forms: military, financial, and diplomatic. Negotiation, in the end, is not just a mental exercise, a jurisprudential or legal debate, or even acrobatic, at all. Negotiation is the language of power and imposing its conditions, which was expressed by the Japanese emperor who signed the surrender papers in front of the American admiral without reading them. When the admiral asked him why he had not read the terms of surrender, the emperor said: I will do so when I have the power.
Finally, if the Israeli negotiator has an amazing military advantage over us, we possess a force that he has never been able to break: the power of hope.

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The strong are the ones who manage any negotiation process. The weak do not negotiate, but rather engineer their exit from the scene. Their only virtue is to minimize their losses or preserve as much face as possible, if any remains.