United States to Present Olmert With ‘New Ideas’ to Advance Talks With PA
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… A senior administration official said Sunday that the United States also has “new ideas for advancing the peace process,” and that American officials will present these ideas to Olmert during his visit. Among other things, it is necessary to bring “additional countries” into the circle of those supporting the peace process, the official said.
The administration, he added, will make it clear to Olmert that America believes the way to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is via the road map peace plan and direct negotiations with the Palestinian leadership. Yet at the same time, the administration recognizes that the current Hamas government “is not an address for negotiations,” and that PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas has not lived up to expectations – and may therefore not be able to serve as such an address either.
Aside from their preference for negotiations, the Americans are also worried about the effects of Olmert’s convergence plan on Jordan, and they plan to make this clear to the prime minister during his visit.
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ANALYSIS: Olmert’s Trip to U.S. is a First Lesson in Diplomacy, by Aluf Benn
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In Israel, Olmert presented his plan to withdraw from most of the West Bank and evacuate tens of thousands of settlers as “a lifeline for Zionism.” His rhetoric emphasized the need to preserve a solid Jewish majority by means of separating from the Palestinians, and to establish “defensible” borders that will run along the Jordan Valley and on hilltops where settlement blocs were built.
The world outside Israel is not interested in a Jewish majority, and is not concerned with the significant cost involved in the evacuation of thousands of people from their homes, as well the internal rift it will cause. In Palestinian and European eyes, Olmert’s convergence plan is yet another Israeli plot to grab territory with security excuses.
President George Bush and his aides support Israel, and will surely not oppose a withdrawal from the territories and an evacuation of the settlements; but their priorities differ.
In their view, the convergence plan is not a fully matured idea; it has many shortcomings and is certainly not a “lifeline.” Olmert is using the Hamas-led Palestinian government as a convenient excuse for unilateral steps. The Bush administration is seeking to topple Hamas, whose rise to power embarrassed the president and undermined the doctrine of democratization in the Middle East.
Olmert views Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas as an ineffectual nuisance; the United States sees him as the final barrier in the way of complete chaos in the territories, a situation that may spread to Jordan and Egypt.
When Jordan’s King Abdullah, Bush’s best friend in the Arab world, cautions that the convergence plan will undermine the national security of his kingdom, the U.S. administration cannot ignore his warnings. Signs of a brewing civil war in the Gaza Strip are not a good omen, and Israel’s attempt to alter the status quo is viewed in Washington as too big a gamble.
Olmert and his aides believe that their problem lies in marketing. If they package their message properly, and link the convergence to the road map peace plan, which leads to the establishment of a Palestinian state, the world will embrace them enthusiastically. This may transpire, but time is needed, especially for the prime minister to prove that he can fulfill his promises, in light of his shaky coalition, and, at the same time, prevent the final collapse of the PA.
Continue reading ANALYSIS: Olmert’s Trip to U.S. is a First Lesson in Diplomacy, by Aluf Benn