What's The Next Move?
Israel and United States seem at a loss for effective peace plans.
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MATTHEW E. BERGER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Washington
ne year after a Camp
David summit pro-
duced the greatest
hope yet that a far-
reaching peace agreement
between Israel and the
Palestinians was attainable, it
now appears that peace is as
elusive as ever.
Both the Israelis and the
Bush administration are at a
loss for what to do next to
quell the violence that has buf-
feted the region for the past
nine months.
Just days after U.S. Secretary
of State Colin Powell failed in
his efforts to salvage a shaky
cease-fire agreement, the State
Department is admitting, as
one official put it: "We have no
big cards left to play."
"It's only day-to-day efforts
to try and keep it moving,"
Israeli soldiers man a 155 mm howitzer in Har Dov, bordering Syria and Lebanon, during an
State. Department official told
exchange of fire between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas on July 1, following an earlier
JTA.
Israeli airstrike on a Syrian radar position in Lebanon.
The Israelis, too, are uncer-
tain where to turn.
Powell visited the Middle
East last week in an effort to set
recent days. The Cabinet also dis-
Powell returned to the United States
a timeline for advancing back toward
cussed the idea following the deadly
having presumably secured agreement
political negotiations.
June 1 terror bombing outside a Tel
for a timetable by which to move from
But within days of his departure, the Aviv disco.
confrontation to cooperation.
violence showed no signs of abating.
Possible adverse reaction from the
The timetable incorporated Israel's
On Monday alone — the worst day
international community and the
demand that a seven-day period of
of violence since the cease-fire went
question of who would fill the power
quiet would precede a six-week "cool-
into effect on June 13 — two Israelis
vacuum after Arafat's defeat were two
ing-off" period before the sides sit
were killed in Palestinian shooting
key reasons for the ministers' rejection
down to implement confidence-build-
attacks, three members of Islamic
of the option.
ing measures.
Jihad died in an Israeli helicopter
• Unilaterally separating from the
Those measures, outlined in a report
attack, and two car bombs were deto-
Palestinians. This idea has been tossed
authored by former U.S. Sen. George
nated in an Israeli town near Tel Aviv.
about in one form or another since the
Mitchell, includes a freeze on Israeli
Should the U.S. cease-fire initiative
tenure of former Prime Minister Ehud
settlements, a halt to Palestinian
fail completely, Israeli officials have
Barak. Most recently, Israel Defense
incitement and the arrest of wanted
discussed a number of options, includ-
Force officials presented the idea of a
terrorists.
ing:
buffer zone separating Israel from the
While Bush administration officials
• Overthrowing the Palestinian
West Bank.
are hoping for the seven-day, cooling-
Authority. Prime Minister Ariel
Opponents of the idea say Israel
off period to begin, they know that a
Sharon said this week that he and his
would have to abandon settlements —
full week of quiet is unlikely.
ministers had discussed — and ulti-
or leave them in Palestinian hands.
Their strategy for the moment is to
mately dismissed — this option in
They also cite its exorbitant costs.
work on the day-to-day triage, in
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hopes of preventing escalation,
and searching for a new strate-
gy to bring Israel and the
Palestinians together.
Terminal Problem?
"There is some level of resig-
nation that steps have to be
taken by the parties in the
region," the State Department
official said. "There is only so
far we can go."
Security meetings between
Israel and the Palestinian
Authority have been fruitful,
and the envoys in the region
continue their work, the offi-
cial said. But the State
Department is beginning to
- realize that the problem could
be terminal.
The Bush administration
originally approached the
Middle East conflict at arms
length, choosing to delve into
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
only when the parties request-
ed it.
Instead of formulating its
own approach to ending the
violence, the administration
latched onto the Mitchell
Report, which stemmed from
an international fact-finding mission
and was issued in May.
But in recent weeks, the administra-
tion has been forced to become more
active, according to officials and ana-
lysts.
The Palestinian bombing of a Tel
Aviv disco brought increased interna-
tional attention to the conflict. The
Bush administration reversed course
and sent CIA Director George Tenet
to the Middle East. Tenet got both
leaders to agree to a cease-fire "work-
ing plan," but fighting continued.
Powell's trip last week was seen as a
chance to solidify that working plan,
and get the parties to move forward.
While some minor headway was
made on ironing out the details of the
Mitchell and Tenet plans, Powell was
unable to get either side to completely