Pressure's on Rice to show progress in Middle East peace
The Annapolis peace conference last November was a good moment for Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. She seemed to be getting serious, finally, about using American diplomacy to push for an Israeli-Palestinian agreement whose basic parameters are understood by everyone -- but which requires U.S. follow-through to make it happen. Since then, American follow-through has been sadly lacking. As a result, the Annapolis process has languished to the point that over the past two weeks, some Israelis and Palestinians warned it was near collapse.
To move the Annapolis peace process forward, Rice knew she had to make progress on the "road map" issues of security. Palestinians and Israelis needed to see signs of change -- al-Jazeera television footage of the Israeli army dismantling illegal settlements on the West Bank, and Israeli television reports that Palestinian security forces were dismantling the terrorist infrastructure. But this hasn't happened.
A big problem has been foot-dragging by the Israeli military. Defense Minister Ehud Barak doesn't trust the peace process endorsed by his political rival, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and it shows. Of an estimated 24 to 80 illegal outposts on the West Bank, the Israeli Defense Force so far hasn't dismantled a single one. And while understandably worried about terrorist attacks, the IDF has not made significant efforts to ease West Bank checkpoints that are a headache and humiliation for the Palestinians.
In the absence of confidence-building measures, hard-liners on both sides have gained ground. Hamas rockets have kept flying into Israel, the Israelis have kept retaliating and the peace process has gone nowhere. Then came last Thursday night's gruesome terrorist shooting in Jerusalem that killed eight rabbinical students.
What's sad is that Rice knew precisely what was needed to make the process work. Annapolis called for a tripartite commission in which a U.S. representative would sit with both sides to monitor progress in improving security and living conditions. The Israelis even agreed that the U.S. representative should decide whether the road map conditions had been met. President Bush named Air Force Lt. Gen. William Fraser III to this mediating post in January. But so far, his commission hasn't had a single three-way meeting. The first one is scheduled for Thursday, but there's no plan to make a public report. Rice also appointed a distinguished personal representative, retired Marine Gen. James Jones, back in November to study a framework for mutual security in a future Palestinian state. Jones has made just one fact-finding trip, and State Department officials believe his mission hasn't made much progress.
Lurking behind this stalemate is the sinister hand of Hamas. It was Rice who insisted that this militant Islamic group be allowed to participate in January 2006 Palestinian legislative elections, over strong protests from both Israelis and moderate Palestinians. Rice argued that the Islamic militancy represented by Hamas had to be given a political voice. But when Hamas won, and predictably continued to reject Israel's right to exist, the U.S. had no coherent follow-up strategy.
What's needed is some sort of cease-fire between Hamas and Israel. But Washington and Jerusalem insist they will never negotiate with a terrorist organization. Meanwhile, they are quietly blessing an Egyptian effort to broker a cease-fire. I'm sorry, but that is a lame strategy -- letting others do secretly what you refuse to do openly.
Rice keeps insisting she is serious about achieving an Israeli-Palestinian breakthrough before President Bush leaves office. But progress requires disciplined follow-through. Without it, you can add Annapolis to the dustbin.
© 2008, Washington Post Writers Group