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Israel in Search of a Way Out
by Eytan Bentsur
- If I were the American, Russian, French or British Ambassador in Israel, I would urge my respective governments to promptly activate the peace process in the Middle East.
- To such an end, all the moderate states in the region already have an agreed framework, an agreed common ground - the Madrid Peace Conference.
- Given historic perspective all avenues but Madrid had failed. Israel of today is more attentive, cautious and anxious but also in search of a way out. The ominous dangers ought to be balanced by hopes for a resumed peace process.
- The Madrid Conference is the only solid process with a proven record. It was conducted gradually with fairly limited oscillations until producing the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan.
- It is a comprehensive process that gave us in the 90’s a glimpse of a really new Middle East engaged in tackling its problems: Economic development, environment, water supply etc.
- The Madrid Conference will be by virtue of its convening an alliance of the moderate countries in the Middle East and the Gulf, thus isolating the anti-peace, anti-western fundamentalist states and proxies and blocking their expansion. (Ynet News)
Try for Madrid II
by Yossi Beilin
- The prime minister has lost his agenda - realignment - and has yet to find an alternative one.
- My concern is that he'll switch the one he had for a right-wing agenda, in partnership with Binyamin Netanyahu or Avigdor Lieberman, and that instead of working to prevent the next war he'll focus on taking steps in order to be ready for it.
- The second alternative, the alternative I hope he'll pursue, is to prepare for a "Madrid II" - a second international conference - or for another mechanism to facilitate resumed talks with the Palestinians.
- I'm talking about something substantive here, not merely the kind of public declarations of willingness to talk with [PA President] Mahmoud Abbas and [Lebanese Prime Minister] Fuad Saniora that he's made via TV.
- I've been speaking with a lot of people lately who believe that a Madrid II mechanism is the right path forward. I hope the prime minister will take it. (Jerusalem Post)
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Watch Out for Madrid II
by Zalman Shoval
- For most of the more "pragmatic" Arab regimes the Palestinian problem is a headache they would like to get rid of as quickly as possible - especially since the Hamas election victory.
- The intention is for the UN - probably with the support of most of the Europeans, Russians and the African-Asian bloc - to call for an international conference, a sort of Madrid II. This would be based, in addition to Resolution 242, on the Saudi Plan.
- The inconvenient road map with its phased approach to solving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict - the very first of which calls for the breaking up of the terrorist infrastructure in the territories - would be jettisoned.
- The Saudi Plan calls for the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees of the 1948 war, though this demand is couched in moderate-sounding terms. The Saudi Plan also calls on Israel to completely withdraw to the Green Line, including in Jerusalem.
- The worst-case scenario would be to fall into the trap of trying to solve all the intractable issues involved via a permanent status agreement.
- Foreign Minister Livni is right that Israel needs to turn to the Palestinian issue - but we need to be wise and careful about our approach. (Jerusalem Post)
Focus on Syria
by Yossi Alpher
- Madrid followed an American-led military triumph that ostensibly ushered in a regional Pax Americana, which in turn helped generate a peace process.
- In contrast, the United States is now in deep trouble in the Middle East, while the Lebanon conflict ended without a decisive victory for either side.
- Many see these circumstances as an achievement for Islamist forces in the region that have no interest in peace with Israel.
- Certainly the Palestinian Authority remains as weak and anarchic as before the war, and no one is pressuring Israel to consider it a viable partner for negotiations.
- Under these circumstances, if any peace initiative at all is conceivable at this point, it is likely to be directed toward Syria, not the Palestinians. Damascus is perceived as the weak link in the Iranian-led front against Israel - and the Iranian threat now takes unequivocal precedence over the Palestinian problem. (Spero News)
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