Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Martin Indyk died last summer. His memory and the world’s well-being could be served by heeding his proposal nearly a quarter-century ago to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

Its beauty lies in its simplicity: nothing new need be created. The U.N. Trusteeship Council, still extant despite being moribund since 1994, could be revived to take over administration of all territory assigned to the Palestinians by partition, with a nation or nations as trustee(s). Saudi Arabia would seem like the choice as lead trustee, not for its trustworthiness but because Israel views normalization with the Saudis as the pathway to its becoming a regional  player and as a shield against what will likely become a nuclear Iran. 

The Trusteeship Council is also authorized to employ force, provided by trustee-nations, as well as any other cooperating U.N. member state. Other mechanisms for peace have been paralyzed by Security Council veto; the Trusteeship Council, while including permanent Security Council members, can be activated by a majority of the General Assembly. 

Obviously, for the Trusteeship Council to function well, the good faith efforts of all states will be required, in particular the U.S., which will have to convince Israel that stabilizing Palestine is in its best interests. The alternative would seem to be escalating conflict.

John A. MacKinnon
Lackawaxen, PA