US Secretary Rice is appealing to the Arab League as Palestinian Authority and Fatah Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) teams up with Hamas, militia violence continues, and Israel-PA positions grow further apart.
Faced with the prospect of American diplomatic failure in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and with the US war in Iraq less than successful, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned on Saturday to the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The difficulty in counting on leadership from the PA was highlighted several hours before they met in Egypt: PA medics discovered two corpses in Gaza - a teacher and a preventive security officer - victims of the renewed warfare between the Hamas and Fatah factions.
Secretary Rice underscored during her meeting with Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia the "importance of Arab-Israeli reconciliation as an element in [the] broadening of peace,” according to Assistant Secretary of State David Welch. She added it was equally important to get the Israel-PA negotiations back on track.
The 22-member Arab League is scheduled to meet before the end of the month and is expected to repeat its endorsement of the 2002 Saudi peace plan.
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government totally rejected the proposal, which offered Arab recognition of the Jewish state in return for a complete surrender of all the land restored to Israel after the Six Day War in 1967 and the entry of millions of descendants of Arabs who left Israel in 1948.
However, Sharon later initiated the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza area in what was presented as a move to reduce terrorism and accelerate progress in negotiations toward a new Arab state on land where more Jewish communities were to be demolished.
The rapid political rise of Hamas, continued terrorist attacks, economic stagnation in the PA and the kidnapping by Hamas terrorists of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit left Israel on the diplomatic defensive, and has so far encouraged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's eagerness to revive the Saudi plan.
However, he has totally rejected the Saudi amendment that adopted the PA policy demanding the “right of return” for all Arab descendants of some half-million who fled the country at their leaders' behest during the War of Independence in 1948. Arab countries, particularly Lebanon and Jordan, have continued to demand that Israel absorb those whom they were forced to accept after their failure to destroy the Jewish State - inasmuch as their growing numbers and discontent threaten the stability of their own regimes.
When Abbas replaced the late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat more than two years ago, he immediately began a diplomatic tour to win the backing of Arab countries, which so far have refused to budge on the issue of clearing those fellow Arabs out of their countries.
The clamor around the idea of massive Arab immigration to Israel has distracted from another element of the Saudi plan which no leading political leader has accepted, namely the surrender of the Temple Mount and the Old City in Jerusalem, which the PA has insisted will be the capital of its new state.
One U.S. official said the situation presents risk for the U.S. Secretary of State, who is playing against the odds as most of the American input has thus far resulted in a worsening situation of more terror and economic stagnation in the PA.
Former State Department advisor David Miller expressed his opinion that, "She really has tied her personal credibility to this issue in a way that most normal political observers would say, 'Is she nuts?'"
The Saudi plan has replaced the US Road Map plan in the headlines, particularly after Abbas publicly backed the Road Map while simultaneously rejecting its clause for temporary borders of a new Arab state and demanding permanent borders.
Secretary Rice said prior to her departure for the Middle East that she is not going to try to persuade the Arab nations to change the 2002 initiative but added, "It would be a very good thing if at some point, the Arab initiative provided a basis for discussion."
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa made it clear Saturday that Rice is traveling on hard Middle East ground. "We fail to understand why we should modify such a peace offer and make it less objective and less positive," he said. Changing the initiative is virtually impossible in the near future because the rules of the Arab League demand that all decisions be accepted unanimously.
Her trip coincides with the first Middle East visit by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who also spoke Saturday night of the ""renewed determination in the Arab world to push the 2002 Saudi peace proposal."
Both Ban Ki-moon’s and Secretary Rice's attempts to move ahead with PA-Israel negotiations face a number of obstacles:
--continued violence between Hamas and Fatah militias in Gaza (despite European Union statements praising the new unity government as putting an end to the warfare);
--a PA unity government that refuses to recognize Israel or renounce terrorism;
--the lack of information on the whereabouts and condition of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas and other terrorists last June;
--the increasing disapproval by Israelis of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces possible direct criticism by the Winograd Committee that investigated the conduct of the Second War in Lebanon last summer. Olmert also is being associated with the latest corruption scandal.This one involves his close ally Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson.
--re-opening the Karni crossing on a continuing basis following the Hamas sniper attack on an Israel Electric Corp. worker last week.
Secretary Rice is on her fourth trip to the area in as many months. Her last visit brought together Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas, who traded angry shouts at each other. The only clear accomplishment of that interaction was that they agreed to meet again.
"We're at a critical juncture right now," said David Makovsky, a Middle East specialist with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The Arab states can reach out to the Israeli center, and to Olmert. But if they don't, they shouldn't be surprised if Israel moves rightward.”
Secretary Rice will meet on Sunday with leaders of Egypt, which has responded critically to her negative comments Friday on constitutional changes that have been termed as being less tolerant toward human rights.
Egypt's failure to broker the release of Shalit and to bring PA and Israeli leaders together has given Saudi Arabian King Abdullah II the opportunity to take the lead.
Prime Minister Olmert's office Saturday night denied another report, this time from a Saudi newspaper, that Israeli and Saudi officials have been meeting secretly.
Working in Saud Arabia's favor is the traditionally warm relationship between U.S. President George W. Bush and King Abdullah II as well as the mutual fear of Iran.
Faced with the prospect of American diplomatic failure in negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and with the US war in Iraq less than successful, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice turned on Saturday to the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
The difficulty in counting on leadership from the PA was highlighted several hours before they met in Egypt: PA medics discovered two corpses in Gaza - a teacher and a preventive security officer - victims of the renewed warfare between the Hamas and Fatah factions.
Secretary Rice underscored during her meeting with Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia the "importance of Arab-Israeli reconciliation as an element in [the] broadening of peace,” according to Assistant Secretary of State David Welch. She added it was equally important to get the Israel-PA negotiations back on track.
The 22-member Arab League is scheduled to meet before the end of the month and is expected to repeat its endorsement of the 2002 Saudi peace plan.
Former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government totally rejected the proposal, which offered Arab recognition of the Jewish state in return for a complete surrender of all the land restored to Israel after the Six Day War in 1967 and the entry of millions of descendants of Arabs who left Israel in 1948.
However, Sharon later initiated the unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza area in what was presented as a move to reduce terrorism and accelerate progress in negotiations toward a new Arab state on land where more Jewish communities were to be demolished.
The rapid political rise of Hamas, continued terrorist attacks, economic stagnation in the PA and the kidnapping by Hamas terrorists of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit left Israel on the diplomatic defensive, and has so far encouraged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's eagerness to revive the Saudi plan.
However, he has totally rejected the Saudi amendment that adopted the PA policy demanding the “right of return” for all Arab descendants of some half-million who fled the country at their leaders' behest during the War of Independence in 1948. Arab countries, particularly Lebanon and Jordan, have continued to demand that Israel absorb those whom they were forced to accept after their failure to destroy the Jewish State - inasmuch as their growing numbers and discontent threaten the stability of their own regimes.
When Abbas replaced the late Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Chairman Yasser Arafat more than two years ago, he immediately began a diplomatic tour to win the backing of Arab countries, which so far have refused to budge on the issue of clearing those fellow Arabs out of their countries.
The clamor around the idea of massive Arab immigration to Israel has distracted from another element of the Saudi plan which no leading political leader has accepted, namely the surrender of the Temple Mount and the Old City in Jerusalem, which the PA has insisted will be the capital of its new state.
One U.S. official said the situation presents risk for the U.S. Secretary of State, who is playing against the odds as most of the American input has thus far resulted in a worsening situation of more terror and economic stagnation in the PA.
Former State Department advisor David Miller expressed his opinion that, "She really has tied her personal credibility to this issue in a way that most normal political observers would say, 'Is she nuts?'"
The Saudi plan has replaced the US Road Map plan in the headlines, particularly after Abbas publicly backed the Road Map while simultaneously rejecting its clause for temporary borders of a new Arab state and demanding permanent borders.
Secretary Rice said prior to her departure for the Middle East that she is not going to try to persuade the Arab nations to change the 2002 initiative but added, "It would be a very good thing if at some point, the Arab initiative provided a basis for discussion."
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa made it clear Saturday that Rice is traveling on hard Middle East ground. "We fail to understand why we should modify such a peace offer and make it less objective and less positive," he said. Changing the initiative is virtually impossible in the near future because the rules of the Arab League demand that all decisions be accepted unanimously.
Her trip coincides with the first Middle East visit by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who also spoke Saturday night of the ""renewed determination in the Arab world to push the 2002 Saudi peace proposal."
Both Ban Ki-moon’s and Secretary Rice's attempts to move ahead with PA-Israel negotiations face a number of obstacles:
--continued violence between Hamas and Fatah militias in Gaza (despite European Union statements praising the new unity government as putting an end to the warfare);
--a PA unity government that refuses to recognize Israel or renounce terrorism;
--the lack of information on the whereabouts and condition of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped by Hamas and other terrorists last June;
--the increasing disapproval by Israelis of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who faces possible direct criticism by the Winograd Committee that investigated the conduct of the Second War in Lebanon last summer. Olmert also is being associated with the latest corruption scandal.This one involves his close ally Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson.
--re-opening the Karni crossing on a continuing basis following the Hamas sniper attack on an Israel Electric Corp. worker last week.
Secretary Rice is on her fourth trip to the area in as many months. Her last visit brought together Prime Minister Olmert and Abbas, who traded angry shouts at each other. The only clear accomplishment of that interaction was that they agreed to meet again.
"We're at a critical juncture right now," said David Makovsky, a Middle East specialist with the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "The Arab states can reach out to the Israeli center, and to Olmert. But if they don't, they shouldn't be surprised if Israel moves rightward.”
Secretary Rice will meet on Sunday with leaders of Egypt, which has responded critically to her negative comments Friday on constitutional changes that have been termed as being less tolerant toward human rights.
Egypt's failure to broker the release of Shalit and to bring PA and Israeli leaders together has given Saudi Arabian King Abdullah II the opportunity to take the lead.
Prime Minister Olmert's office Saturday night denied another report, this time from a Saudi newspaper, that Israeli and Saudi officials have been meeting secretly.
Working in Saud Arabia's favor is the traditionally warm relationship between U.S. President George W. Bush and King Abdullah II as well as the mutual fear of Iran.