Fresh US and European efforts to settle the Palestinian - Israeli issue
Palestine-Israel-USA, Politics, 7/9/2007

US Secretary Rice will travel to the Middle East, Africa and Europe from July 16th to the 20th. Rice will visit Jerusalem and Ramallah for meetings with officials from the Israeli and Palestinian Authority governments.

US Department Of State Spokesman Sean McCormack said today that Rice the use the trip to "try to move the process forward, move the Israeli-Palestinian track forward -- a number of different levels, to talk on a very practical level day to day, how can each side try to make the lives of their respective populations a bit better. And on both sides, we know what that entails, so -- and also to try to talk a little bit about the political horizon and the fact that it is important to work at both levels. So it's also a trip that was intended to support Prime Minister Olmert's statements about wanting to build a foundation for discussions about a future Palestinian state. It's also a trip that's designed to support President Abbas. There has been a lot of turmoil within the Palestinian political system as -- over the past couple of months we all know about. And it's a trip also designed to underscore the fact that we as well as others, support this new Palestinian Government as well as President Abbas."

Asked that "there's only 18 months left to the Bush Administration, so the Administration's horizon for trying to maintain progress on this, let alone trying to actually get some kind of a peace deal in place between the Israelis and the Palestinians that you deal with is pretty imminent. Does she still hope that that is indeed what is even possible in the next year and a half or is what you're just hoping some kind of incremental movement that you've given up on the idea of actually achieving some kind of a peace agreement between the two sides? " McCormack said " First of all, we're not going to do something that we think is not prudent, you know, just in the name of trying to rush something through to, you know, accomplish something in the next 16 months. If the conditions are such that we are able to make progress, make substantial progress, then that will be positive. But at the very least, what Secretary Rice would like to do is to move the process forward and to lay the foundations for an eventual Palestinian state."

He added "If there's more that is able to be accomplished in that period of time, absolutely, she is going to push as hard as she can. She's talked a lot about the groundwork that we have tried to do in terms of changing the underlying conditions. But she believes that it is important to try to move this process forward for the Israeli people, for the Palestinian people, for everybody in the region, for us, for the United States. So she's going to devote a lot of time and energy to it. She has over the past years devoted quite a bit of time and energy to it and I think you're going to continue to see that effort from her as well as the Administration."

McCormack was asked "Do you believe that the prospects for peace are better, now that you have an interim Palestinian Government that meets the Quartet conditions, that it's on -- or do you think that they're, in fact, worse because the Hamas takeover in Gaza has very boldly exposed the schism between or among -- within the Palestinians and therefore, make it harder to sign some kind of agreement, because you have one side that doesn't represent the entire population?" McCormack said "that divide within the Palestinian political system always existed. This is not something that has occurred in the past six months, year, or even the past couple of years. And it's always been the fact that the Palestinians themselves need to reconcile this division and they need to reconcile themselves to what pathway they want to proceed. President Abbas has outlined a pathway whereby the Palestinian people could possibly realize a state. They're going to do that via the negotiating table. There is also the alternative that Hamas has laid out, which leads to nowhere."

He added "In terms of the conditions for peace, I think that you've heard us say that we think that the underlying conditions now at present are better than they have been at any other time in the recent past. But whether or not that promise is actually realized is going to depend ultimately on the parties, the Israelis and the Palestinians and their willingness to seek to bridge any differences, to come together and realize that this is going to be in both of their long-term interests."

McCormack said "Now the conditions have to be ripe all around and this -- that means also that the Arab states are going to have to play a role. Now they have stepped up and they have said that they are going to send a delegation to Israel on July 12th to talk about the Arab League proposal. That is, we believe, a positive development. Prime Minister Olmert has said that he's going to release tax revenues and he has also announced the release of some Palestinian prisoners. So there are some signs at the -- I guess the tactical level, if you will, that there's a willingness to reach out on both sides. And President Abbas has talked about the fact that he is committed to peace and he has named a prime minister that is somebody with whom the entire international system can work and somebody in whom the international system has a lot of confidence and made a lot of strides in making the Palestinian Authority finances -- well, it's something in which we can -- we'll have confidence, including the Palestinian people."

He added "So there are some promising developments. We believe that the underlying conditions are moving in the right direction. And whether or not we actually are able to achieve some real concrete steps to a Palestinian state, Palestinian institutions that function on behalf of the Palestinian people, progress along the political horizon between the Israelis and the Palestinians and progress on a political horizon between Arab states and the Israeli Government, that ultimately is going to be up to the parties involved. We are going to push, we are going to do what we think is right in terms of moving the process forward. But ultimately, it's going to come down to hard decisions on the ground by political leadership there in the region."

Asked about chances for peace in light of Hamas refusing to recognize Israel and the current Palestinian conditions, McCormack said "it all proceeds from the premise that ultimately, the Palestinians are going to have to make a decision for themselves what sort of future they want; do they want a state, do they want to live in the current state in which they find themselves now? When I think about the prospects for peace in the region are -- between the Israelis and the Palestinians are better than they have been in any recent time, I'm referring back to the era of, you know, 2001, just around the time President Bush came into office."

McCormack said "Remember the situation in which we found ourselves back in January 21st, 2001. And President Clinton made Herculean efforts to try to bring the parties together. Ultimately, it was Yasser Arafat who scuttled those efforts. But you had a raging intifada. You had a situation where Yasser Arafat was running the Palestinian Authority as his own personal fiefdom and apparently for his own personal gain as well as the gain of many of those around him. He had just turned down what, by the account of most pundits, was a very attractive deal for the Palestinian people. He just couldn't bring himself to make the compromises necessary to reach an agreement. You had Israeli politics which was bitterly divided. You had a situation where there was a new prime minister who was coming in who was the father of the settlement movement and unalterably opposed to any compromise involving the West Bank. But, and now we find ourselves in the situation where Israeli politics has re-centered around the idea of an accommodation with the Palestinians, and that re-centering of Israeli politics was led by the very person who previously was unalterably opposed to any sort of accommodation with respect to the Palestinians, including in the West Bank. And by the way, the Israelis back in 2005 gave up some settlements on the West Bank."

McCormack said "We now have in place a Palestinian Government that is led by a well-respected, internationally well-respected Palestinian Prime Minister, a President who is foursquare for a negotiated settlement for a Palestinian state and who is also interested in reforming Palestinian institutions and is interested in reforming his own political party. You also have a situation now where the Arab states have reissued an offer to Israel regarding how Arab states could recognize Israel. Now, everybody understands that the Israelis have problems with the proposed solution as it stands right now, but what we have encouraged is for the sides to look at it as a starting point, as a basis for discussions."

He added "So that's sort of the thumbnail version of why we think now the underlying conditions are better than they have been in the recent past. Now, that is not to say, as you pointed out, that there aren't great challenges, that the fact that the Palestinian people still need to reconcile the fundamental contradictions within their political system still exists. But that existed back in 2001 as well. Hamas was not just something that appeared within the past two or three years. It was something that was building strength over time. It was building strength over time because you had a Palestinian Authority that was not well-governed and that did not serve the needs of the people. So as a result, it was able to build strength. Now, you have something out there for the Palestinian people to look towards. They have a Palestinian Authority that is interested in trying to serve their needs. Now, they have a ways to go and that's part of what Tony Blair is going to be working on with President Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. So that's my case in brief."

McCormack said that "none of this is to say that there aren't challenges and the fact that Hamas took actions against the legitimate Palestinian institutions doesn't pose challenges, not the least of which is how does the international system continue to provide humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza, because we're not going to forsake them just because of the actions of the most radical elements of the terrorist organization, Hamas. And it also, as I have said a couple of times, it leaves open that question that if you are able to make progress on the political track and on other tracks between the Israelis and the Palestinians, at some point how do you incorporate all the Palestinian people into that. Now, it's our view that President Abbas is the President for all the Palestinian people that Prime Minister Fayyad is the Prime Minister for all the Palestinian people. But ultimately, they're going to need to reconcile those differences."

Asked about any Quartet meeting soon, McCormack said "I'm not going to rule out that there will be a ministerial level Quartet meeting in the coming weeks. At this point, there's not an agreed upon date. David Welch is going to be in London tomorrow for an envoy's level Quartet meeting and there -- this is going to be one of the topics of discussion when is it the right time for ministers to gather together as a Quartet."

Meantime, a Washington Post report said today that "The foreign ministers of France, Italy, Spain and seven other European states called on Monday for an international conference on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and said Israel should make more concessions for peace," and spoke about their desire to implement an robust international force "to take into account Israel's need for security and consider creating an international force to impose a ceasefire among Palestinians, as Abbas has called for."

Previous Stories:
  Israel arrests Hamas members   (7/2/2007)
  Israel/Gaza rockets and shelling violate laws of war   (7/2/2007)
  Four Palestinian children killed by Irsaeli military   (7/2/2007)
  Rice urges continued Israeli-Palestinian dialogue   (6/12/2007)
  Olmert: Arab peace initiative positive, rejects 'right of return'   (5/7/2007)
  Rice: US will aid Palestinian people, deal with Abbas   (3/20/2007)

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