By Brigitte L. Nacos
After dragging their feet during the first term of the Bush
presidency and then some, administration officials, led by Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, intensify the recently launched push to settle the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and get the two-state solution on the way. Reportedly, Dr. Rice
does not want to rely merely on the existing peace-seeking Quartet (European
Union, United Nations, Russia and the
United
States) and the two principals (Israel and the Palestinian Authority); she aims
at involving a new Quartet of Arab governments (Saudi
Arabia, Egypt,
Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates) in her new peace initiative. And
what are the odds of this new initiative to succeed? According to the
Washington Post’s Glenn
Kessler, “The unknown, as Rice heads to the region today, is whether this
will add up to the beginnings of peace -- or to more stalemates and
disappointment.” The question is whether the inclusion of the new Quartet can
make a difference this time around. Rice has reportedly the ambitious goal as Kessler reports “to
bring together the Quartet, the Arab Quartet, Israel and Palestinian leader Abbas
for a single meeting. This would publicly bring together Israeli and Saudi
officials for the first time since 2000; such a high-profile meeting between
the Jewish state and the keeper of Islam's holiest sites would be considered a
breakthrough -- especially by Israelis -- and a coup for Rice.”
Maybe a breakthrough for Israelis and a coup for Rice, but
one wonders whether this would also be a breakthrough and a coup for peace and a
workable the two-state solution. While the two Quartets can pressure both the
Israeli government of Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority’s headed by President
Mahmoud Abbas, Israelis and Palestinians are the ones to make compromises on
important issues for the sake of peace—for the sake of their people.
According to Daniel Levy, a former adviser in the Israeli Prime Minister's Bureau and a
senior fellow at the New America Foundation and the Century Foundation the onus
is now on Prime Minister Olmert. Levy
writes in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz:
“The secretary of state's discovery of
Middle East shuttle diplomacy is not about treading water, or showing "our
Arab friends that America cares about the Palestinians." No, Rice is on a mission - to create a
political horizon for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - and it is time
for Ehud Olmert to start taking that mission seriously."
“The U.S. is keen for real political
progress. The Palestinian unity government provides a mechanism that, if
nurtured, could deliver an ongoing cease-fire while minimizing the prospects of
Hamas undermining a peace process. The Arab states are not only ready but eager
for a deal…”
Who wouldn’t be heartened by signs that circumstances have changed for the better in some respects—namely, greater willingness to go the diplomatic route in Washington and the inclusion of an Arab Quartet. But it is far from clear that the unity government on the Palestinian side can become a vehicle in a credible peace process. Although there have been changes in the Palestinian Authority’s government with the inclusion of so-called moderates, the fact remains that this government still has failed to embrace the “old” quartet’s conditions, namely, the recognition of Israel’s right to exist and the abandonment of terrorism. Thus, getting the peace process on the road again is not only the Israeli government’s burden but the Palestinian Authority’s as well.
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