“By now everyone has realized that there’s a new issue on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations agenda that’s not going away: The demand that the Palestinians not only recognize Israel - something they have done repeatedly, starting in 1993 - but that they recognize Israel as "a Jewish state," or some similar wording. No such “recognition-plus” demand was made of Egypt or Jordan, nor was it mentioned in the Oslo agreement or subsequent Israeli-Palestinian documents. It made a brief appearance in the Annapolis talks of 2007, but only as a marginal issue. Only In 2009 did it truly come into play, courtesy of Benjamin Netanyahu...”
APN resources:
Lara Friedman, Haaretz, March 31, 2014: What Israeli Palestinian mutual recognition really means
Lara Friedman, APN Blog, April 19, 2009: The Demand for "Recognition-Plus" -- Bibi's New Pretext for Not Pursuing Peace
Other recommended reading:
Yitzhak Lior, Haaretz+. March 30, 2014: Abbas, don’t recognize Israel as a Jewish state
Zvi Bar’el in Haaretz+, March 26, 2014: A Jewish nation-state is for Israelis with identity anxiety
Amos Schoken, Haaretz+ March 24, 2014: The visible rejectionism of Ari Shavit
Peter Beinart, Haaretz+ March 19, 2014: Before Abbas recognizes the Jewish state, Israel must define it
Hussein Ibish, Haaretz+, March 13, 2014: How many times must the Palestinians recognize Israel?
Chemi Shalev, Haaretz+ March 12, 2014: Israelis: Peace with Arab world more important than recognition as Jewish state
Donniel Hartman, Times of Israel, March 11, 2014: A Jewish state: It’s our problem, not theirs
Hussein Ibish, NOW, March 11, 2014: The real impact of Israel's "Jewish state" demand
Reuters, March 5, 2014: 'Jewish state' recognition adds new Israeli-Palestinian trip wire
Matt Duss, Think Progress, March 5, 2014: Is Palestinian Recognition Of Israel As A ‘Jewish State’ An Insurmountable Obstacle?
Yoav Hendel, YNet, Feb. 17, 2014: When will Israel recognize the Jewish state?
Efraim Halevy (former head of the Mossad), YNet, Feb, 26, 2014: Israel, beware 'Jewish statehood' trap
Haaretz January 22, 2014: Peres: Palestinian recognition of Jewish state 'unnecessary'
Brent Sasley, Haaretz+, January 15, 2014: Israel needs borders, not therapy
Jodi Rudoren, New York Times, January 2, 2014: Sticking Point in Peace Talks: Recognition of a Jewish State
Haviv Rettig Gur, Times of Israel, October 7, 2013: The nature of peacemaking according to Netanyahu
Times of Israel, October 6, 2013: Netanyahu blames Mideast conflict on refusal to recognize Jewish state
Tal Becker, WINEP brief, February 2011: The Claim for Recognition of Israel as a Jewish State: A Reassessment
Hussein Ibish, Foreign Policy, May 25, 2011: Should the Palestinians Recognize Israel as a Jewish State?
The Geneva Accord, October, 2003: “Affirming that this agreement marks the recognition of the right of the Jewish people to statehood and the recognition of the right of the Palestinian people to statehood, without prejudice to the equal rights of the Parties' respective citizens”