Single Arab peace strategy meets numerous Israeli strategies
Regional, Reporter's View, 5/4/1998

Analysts say that British Prime Minister Tony Blair's visit to the Middle East boosts the European Union's role in the Middle East.

This expectation from analysts raised an important question: Was the role of Blair's visit to enhance the EU's political or economic role?

Blair made clear what he thought the European role should be. He stressed that Europe should not do anything that would "cut across the US peace efforts," but should rather focus on "economic issues."

This statement from Blair stunted rosy Arab hopes, particularly after the Arab states heard Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's statements.

At a Cabinet meeting on Monday, Netanyahu made it clear that the meeting in London would not be an international or EU-mediated "summit", but a bilateral meeting with Albright focused on resolving "interim" issues, such as the Gaza airport and a joint Palastinian-Israeli industrial park in the Gaza Strip. Netanyahu made it clear to his cabinet ministers that he did not foresee any breakthrough at the London meetings.

Blair's and Netanyahu's statements assured that any political progress on long-overdue issues was not at hand.

Politicians in Cairo say that as has so often happened with Netanyahu, the illusion of progress in the Middle East peace progress collapsed almost immediately. Some Egyptian insiders believe a meeting between Arafat and Netanyahu will likely take place in London, but caution that such a meeting will have been futile if it falls short of producing a clear-cut Israeli commitment to implement previously-signed accords.

And now, we have a final question which asks what must be done with these deceitful US and British efforts.

Netanyahu and his Likud government become the king at any negotiating table as long as they have the power to do what they want.

But Arab leaders in fact have chosen one strategy to deal with their most important issue and their national security. They have chosen the peace strategy and never tired of repeating it constantly, forgetting that Israel could change its strategy a hundred times in an hour.

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