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Time Runs Out for Bush Administration on Mideast Peace Settlement

[Christian Science Monitor] Danna Harman - Even those who believe that U.S. moves might have once made a difference in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks admit that now - with the Bush administration in its waning days - time has run out. "There is not enough time to do any work now. None of the players are in any shape to formulate policy and no one has energy to work on this peace process," says Mohammed Dajani, director of the American Studies Institute at Jerusalem's Al-Quds University. Danny Ayalon, Israel's ambassador to Washington until 2006, agrees: "There is absolutely no hope for progress on the peace process at this junction....The name of the game now is just keeping the fragile pieces together and a facade of momentum." Even the release of 198 Palestinian prisoners Monday - as a goodwill measure toward Mahmoud Abbas - did little to brighten the mood. "The idea that this is going to strengthen Abu Mazen [Abbas] in any substantial way is a big mistake," says Yoram Meital, head of the Center for Middle East Studies and Diplomacy at Ben-Gurion University. "There will be celebrations, yes, but the day after, nothing significant will remain and it will not move dialogue forward." Ayalon says, "No matter who wins the U.S. elections, it will take months for the new administration to settle in, and no one expects any changes on the ground here during that time. Basically, we are talking about next summer."
2008-08-27 01:00:00
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