David Makovsky, on leave from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, was recently named to the State Department’s Israeli-Palestinian negotiating team.

Makovsky now acts as senior adviser to Martin Indyk, who leads the team.

Makovsky, when asked a number of questions regarding his own writing and views on the Palestinian-Israeli issues, replied that he cannot have any contact with journalists, and referred me to a State Department official.

In an article Makovsky published in The Atlantic last January, he wrote:

President Abbas has also appeared recently on Israeli television, stating that he renounced any personal “right of return” to his home town of Safed – and that Palestine today means the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Gaza, but not pre-1967 Israel, “now and forever.”

The U.S. should ask him to repeat those assurances, along with his public disagreement with Hamas about its rejection of the principle of peace with Israel.

Therefore, my first question was:

Has Abbas, in fact, ever made these assurances in Arabic? Or disagreed with Hamas in Arabic? And what about the fact that the focus of the Palestinians’ plan of action is on the “right of return” to the area of Israel, as opposed to living in the West Bank?

The State Department official, in lieu of Makovsky, replied, “Regarding that first question, I will have to talk to my colleagues; I need a little bit longer. It will take some research.”

After several days and phone and e-mail reminders, I did receive the following answer:

Unfortunately we have no additional comment…

The fact that a State Department official cannot (or will not) give answers to this critical question may indicate that there is a gap between the wishes of the U.S. government regarding the Palestinians’ plans, and the reality on the ground.

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