Ronit Levine Schnur
Ceasefires must be stepping stones, not dead ends
US president Donald Trump and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s declaration on September 29, 2025, marks a notable political moment. It highlights the power of strong personalities to push through agreements, pause violence, and open channels of dialogue. Ceasefires matter. Returning the hostages matters. Ending Hamas’s terrorist control over Gaza matters. But if the last three decades of Middle Eastern diplomacy have taught us anything, it is that advancing such important steps cannot substitute for institutions and long-term state-building. Durable peace requires a deeper strategy.
From Leaders to Institutions
Leadership charisma can deliver breakthroughs, and Trump’s leadership is, in contemporary politics, unparalleled. But institutions are what sustain peace once the spotlight fades. Without functioning institutions—parliaments, courts, fiscal authorities, police forces—the foundations of a stable state remain fragile. For Palestinians, this means that nation-building must precede or at least accompany any political resolution. A moderate, demilitarized, democratic (“MDD”) Palestinian polity cannot emerge simply as a byproduct of negotiations with Israel, where the focus currently resides. It must rest on a domestic architecture of governance that is legitimate, transparent, and effective.
From Bilateral to Multilateral
The declaration, like many before it, leans heavily on bilateral interaction—leader-to-leader negotiations, Israel vis-à-vis the Palestinians, the United States as sponsor. But the Middle East’s complexity cannot be managed bilaterally. Regional frameworks are indispensable. They pool resources, set common standards, and create shared stakes in peace. The Abraham Accords provided an important precedent, but they remain essentially a series of bilateral normalization deals. What is needed now is a regional institutional framework: a multilateral body anchored in Arab partners and supported by extra-regional actors, and ideally chaired by Washington, with a mandate that extends beyond peacemaking to economic investment, security oversight, and dispute resolution.
From Ceasefire to Peace
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