Peace Conference Simulation Reflection/Evaluation Ahnika Boring

Participating in the Peace Conference Simulation was both challenging and really fun! For me, I think the
hardest part was striking that balance between explaining my thought processes and trying to accurately
represent my character and nation/government - Ashkenazi seems to be walking a political tightrope
between the Blue and White and Likud parties (and the desire to be diplomatic/negotiate) that made it
hard to gauge at times what he would be explicitly for or against. Israel has its hand in many of the
Middle Eastern conflicts, and although that was admittedly overwhelming at times, it was fascinating to
research it all and I feel that I have an even stronger understanding of the region!

I think that I had a chance to speak on just about every major point of discussion during the simulation.
Thinking back though, I wish that Israel would have been more vocal about the creation of a state of
Kurdistan, but the right opportunity never seemed to come up. The UN representative for Lebanon and I
had also come to an agreement that we never got to discuss with the Lebanon leadership directly, which
was also unfortunate.

I also wanted to share some of the thinking behind the 2-state Peace Proposal. In writing it up, I was
trying to craft a solution that was more of a middle ground so we had a concrete proposal to negotiate
through (one that I could potentially see Ashkenazi backing). I drew inspiration from the conversations I
had with the Palestinians authorities involved in the conference, Trump’s Peace Plan, some of Benjamin
Netanyahu’s stances, and these Ashkenazi articles:

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/ashkenazi-israeli-policy-moved-from-annexation-to-normalization-
640184
https://www.timesofisrael.com/ashkenazi-denies-blocking-israeli-strike-on-iran-says-option-still-on-the-
table/
https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-fm-ashkenazi-endorses-trump-peace-plan-as-historic-opportunity/
https://www.jpost.com/50-most-influential-jews/gabi-ashkenazi-642159

A couple of things I would have liked to stress in the proposal was the 1. the call for Palestine to pledge
to condemn ALL acts of violence against Israel and 2. that Palestinian refugees would be heavily
encouraged (pressured) to return to the Palestinian state (drawing them away from land in Israel). The
first deals with security, and the second ties into the importance of Israel remaining a Jewish majority
(second article). I also have one immediate edit to the proposal: have Israel annex Jerusalem entirely (but
this is tricky because, diplomatically, I doubt the Palestinians would agree to any deal without Jerusalem).

If I were to grade myself based on the amount of effort I put in, I would give myself a high A. While
researching I took dozens of pages of notes and tried to be tactful with that information. I was also careful
not to sign any agreements at face value and tried to take initiative in creating meetings/proposals that
would be useful.

After participating in this simulation, I have a renewed respect for the diplomatic/negotiation process and
everyone involved. I am grateful for the chance to have this experience and to be pushed outside of my
comfort zone!