(Ha'aretz) Aaron David Miller - It's a pretty safe wager that there will be no serious movement by any side toward Arab-Israeli peace until sometime next year - at the earliest. The past four years has made a viable agreement between Israelis and Palestinians much less likely. On the Palestinian side, warlords run Gaza, the PA is weakening, and economic deterioration and leadership stagnation abound, paralyzing the formation of any serious strategy. Israelis, on the other hand, see their salvation in unilateralism - the security fence, targeted killings, and Gaza disengagement. The organizing principle should be to distinguish between reaching a permanent status agreement (which is not possible now) and helping to create an environment for serious permanent status negotiations (which is possible). Gaza disengagement - now the only game in town - might provide an entry point back into this process. The writer was a U.S. State Department adviser on Arab-Israeli negotiations for 25 years.
2004-11-02 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive