Israel, Palestinians seek elusive peace By STEVEN GUTKIN, Associated Press Writer Sun Dec 30, 8:04 AM ET
JERUSALEM - In the afterglow of a high-profile peace conference, Israeli and Palestinian leaders will try in the coming year to resolve issues that have defied solutions for decades. For peace to work, Israel will have to give up most of the West Bank, Palestinians must agree to resettle refugees inside their own state and the two sides must share the holy city of Jerusalem. None of that will come easily — and prospects for peace are hurt by the growing power of extremists and the weakness of leaders on both sides.Weighing heavily on the Middle East is fear about the influence of Iran and the ascendancy of Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. After Hamas violently routed the more moderate Fatah movement in Gaza in June, the big question now is whether the West Bank will go the same way.Israel fretted through a year of angst about Iran's nuclear program only to be told in a new U.S. intelligence report that Iran stopped it four years ago. Israel isn't buying the claim, and is scrambling to convince its allies that Iran remains a major threat to the West.
Hamas' takeover of Gaza paradoxically opened the door to peace talks between Israel and the moderate Palestinian leadership now in charge of the West Bank. Israeli and Palestinian leaders both say they hope to sign a peace deal by the end of 2008.On Nov. 27, the two sides got together in Annapolis, Md., in the presence of some 45 nations — including leading Arab states — to relaunch peace talks that had been stalled during the past seven years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.All the main players have good reason to go for a deal: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to undo the damage done by his inconclusive 2006 war in Lebanon, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas needs a boost in his showdown with Hamas, President Bush would like to offset his difficulties in Iraq, and moderate Arab states need to counter Iranian-supported extremism.Working against this new hope is weakness at the top: a Palestinian president who only controls half his territory and struggles to impose order in the part he does control, and an Israeli leader who has done little to confront domestic hawks intent on expanding West Bank settlements and torpedoing any progress toward peace.While the contours of a peace deal have largely been worked out in past talks — a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, shared control of Jerusalem and a recognition the need to settle the Palestinian refugees — every issue calls for excruciating compromises.Negotiators will have to figure out how to share Jerusalem, a task that must address key Israeli security concerns and religious sensitivities on both sides; and find a just solution for the Palestinian refugees displaced in Israel's 1948 war of independence without destroying the Jewish character of Israel.Both Israelis and Palestinians have a growing sense that time is running out.
There will soon be more Muslims than Jews in the lands comprising historic Palestine, and Israel will have to make a deal if it hopes to remain both Jewish and democratic. And without peace, moderate Palestinians will likely lose their life-or-death struggle against the extremists.If things don't work out it means that the voices that are not in favor of ... a peaceful resolution of the conflict will feel vindicated and they will be strengthened and empowered, said independent West Bank lawmaker Hanan Ashrawi.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Ami Ayalon went further, saying that if peace talks fail we shall see Hamas controlling the West Bank and the right wing will control Israel.Israel might sign some sort of a peace treaty in the coming year. But it's highly unlikely the deal would be implemented unless Israel is assured that the lands it evacuates won't be used as launching grounds for attacks — as happened after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip in 2005.In hopes of bolstering Abbas' forces in the West Bank, the international community is expected to pledge almost $2 billion a year in aid for the next three years to help rebuild the Palestinian economy and security forces.There are no clear plans for Hamas-ruled Gaza, which is internationally boycotted and can expect to remain almost completely isolated and slide deeper into poverty as long as the Islamic militants remain in power.If the U.S. change of assessment on Iran was one year-end surprise, Syria is another. The country has long been under U.S. pressure over its role in Lebanon and Iraq, and in September Israeli warplanes struck a site in Syria that some believe was a nascent secret nuclear site, an accusation denied by Damascus. But Syria improved ties with the U.S. by attending the Annapolis conference, a thaw that U.S. officials hope will dilute Iran's influence in the region. Damascus, in turn, is hoping the next year will see a resumption of stalled negotiations with Israel over the disputed Golan Heights. Steven Gutkin is The Associated Press' bureau chief for Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Israeli PM to decide on all settlement tenders by Ron Bousso DEC 30,07
JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel announced stricter controls on Sunday over settlement building in the occupied West Bank, but warned it would not make changes on the ground until Palestinians cracked down on security. The statements came shortly before a visit to the region by US President George W. Bush, whose administration has criticised its close ally Israel over settlements after peace talks were revived at a US conference late last month.The Palestinians accused Israel of placing obstacles in the revived peace talks and failing to implement its obligations under a four-year-old internationally drafted peace blueprint dubbed the roadmap that both sides have pledged to uphold.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will from now on decide all settlement tenders, officials said, following two instances when settlement expansions were announced after the US conference, reportedly without knowledge of his office.
Last week Prime Minister Olmert had a meeting with Housing Minister Zeev Boim at which it was decided that the prime minister from now on will give the final authorisation for any new construction in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, the official told reporters on condition of anonymity.The tenders that have already been published will not be annulled, but all the other tenders which are in the process of being published will require Olmert's authorisation, he said.Opening a cabinet meeting two days after two Israeli settlers were killed by Palestinian fire in a West Bank shootout, Olmert warned Israel would not take any steps on the ground if the Palestinians do not act to improve security.
As long as the Palestinian Authority does not take the necesssary measures with the necessary force to act against terror organisations, Israel will not carry out on the ground any changes that could expose it to dangers and could create security dangers to Israel, he said.In the deadliest attack on settlers in at least a year, two Palestinians opened fire on three Israelis hiking west of Hebron on Friday. Two of the Israelis -- armed off-duty soldiers -- fired back, killing one of the Palestinians.The armed wing of Islamist Hamas on Sunday claimed joint responsibility with the smaller Islamic Jihad group for the attack, which occurred in a part of West Bank where Israel is solely responsible for security.A spokesman for Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, Nabil Abu Rudeina, told AFP that Israel should not place obstacles like... these imaginary security excuses in the way of negotiations.The Palestinian Authority is implementing the first part of the roadmap, and it is up to Israel to implement the obligations demanded of it, he said.When they relaunched their peace talks after a nearly seven-year hiatus, the two sides pledged to uphold the 2003 peace blueprint, which calls on Israel to halt settlement activity and on the Palestinians to improve security.In Cairo on Sunday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Israel to make gestures to show its commitment to peace.I've said several times... that it's time for Israel to make gestures which would show that peace is possible, including ending settlements" in the occupied West Bank, he said after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.Ahead of Bush's visit, Israel has sought to calm tensions with the Palestinians over settlements, with army radio reporting on Friday that it had given new assurances to Washington.Israel pledged to halt activity in the Maale Adumim settlement, one of the largest in the occupied West Bank, and not to invite any new tenders for settlements in occupied and annexed east Jerusalem, it said.
The announcement came a day after Olmert and Abbas agreed not to take any steps that could compromise the peace talks revived at the conference in the US city of Annapolis. The international community does not recognise Israel's claims over east Jerusalem and considers all settlements on occupied land illegal. According to Israeli media reports, Olmert's office was not aware in advance of the new tender invitations. Government spokesman Mark Regev told AFP that there can't be any surprises as in the past, given that these issues have diplomatic implications.
France's Sarkozy asks Israel for gestures, boycotts Syria by Philippe Alfroy DEC 30,07
CAIRO (AFP) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy sought to reassure Arab states concerned about his strong ties with Israel by asking Israel to make peace gestures, while taking a tough stance with Syria. Sarkozy was in Cairo for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on his first official visit to the Middle East since taking office in May.He said France will have no more contact with Syria until Damascus shows a willingness to let Lebanon end its long-running political crisis and find a new president. France will have no more contact with Syria... until we have proof of Syrian willingness to let Lebanon appoint a president by consensus, Sarkozy told journalists after talks in Cairo with Mubarak.Former colonial power France wants a president for Lebanon, he said. It's time to provide proof (of goodwill), it's time for Syria to show it.Keen to stress a continuation of his predecessor Jacques Chirac's Arab-friendly policies, Sarkozy urged Israel to make gestures to show its commitment to peace with the Palestinians.I've said several times... that it's time for Israel to make gestures which would show that peace is possible, including ending settlements in the occupied West Bank, Sarkozy said.Our position (on Israel) is unchanging, being a friend doesn't mean being complacent.
Sarkozy has ruffled Arab feathers by showing friendship for Israel and rejecting anti-Americanism, with sections of the Egyptian press deriding him as President George W. Bush's new poodle, replacing Britain's ex-premier Tony Blair.While the US remains Israel's key ally, France is seen by many as the Western power most able to end Lebanon's political impasse.It's time for Syria to prove with facts what it has not stopped saying in speeches, Sarkozy said. We are now waiting for acts on Syria's part and not speeches.Only last month Sarkozy called Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reopening top-level contacts after a three-year break in a bid to end Lebanon's political crisis, Syrian media reported at the time.Also in November, while French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner shuttled between rival leaders in Beirut, two Sarkozy aides met Assad in Damascus.Mubarak called Lebanon's political deadlock dangerous and appealed to Syria to use its influence in Lebanon to work towards reconciliation so that the parliament elects a president.Syria pulled its troops out of Lebanon in 2005 after a nearly 30-year presence in the face of strong international and domestic pressure but continues to be accused of meddling in its neighbour's affairs.Lebanon has been without a president since November 23 when Syrian-backed incumbent Emile Lahoud ended his term with rival parties unable to agree on a successor.A parliamentary vote to elect a president has been postponed 11 times amid sharp divisions between the Western-backed government of Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and the opposition, backed by Syria and Iran.A Lebanese pro-government MP hailed the new tougher line from Paris.
These comments express the disillusionment of the Arab world and the international community about the chances of agreeing anything positive with the Syrian regime, said Wael Bou Faour. Earlier this month, US President George W. Bush also ruled out direct talks with the Syrian leader, saying: My patience ran out on President Assad a long time ago.On Sunday, Sarkozy also said France would free up funds for a planned international tribunal intended to try those behind a series of assassinations in Lebanon that began with the murder of former premier Rafiq Hariri in 2005. UN investigators probing Hariri's murder have identified several people who they say may have been involved, but no one has been charged. Many in Lebanon blame Syria for the attacks, charges denied by Damascus. In Cairo, Sarkozy also pushed his proposed Mediterranean Union grouping countries of the Mediterranean rim that is set to be launched at a Paris summit in July. The two presidents also discussed bilateral relations with Sarkozy assuring Mubarak that France was ready to offer assistance for Egypt's recently relaunched nuclear energy programme. They met after Sarkozy ended a holiday in the Nile city of Luxor and the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh with his new girlfriend ex-model Carla Bruni and a swarm of pararazzi.
