Joel Migdal responds:

“Many allusions have been made to agreements that were “almost” signed by the two parties. One famous one was reported by former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and confirmed by Palestine Authority Mahmoud Abbas, just before Olmert left office in 2009 because of a scandal. More recently, Israeli President Shimon Peres claimed that he and Abbas had worked out a final framework for peace, but that it had been rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. If nothing else, these near-misses indicate that the gulf between the two sides is not unbridgeable. But they also demonstrate that timing and the right leadership play a huge role in achieving closure. When the leadership and timing stars will align correctly is anyone’s guess, but I certainly do think that a two-state agreement is possible.”