Even if the Saudi initiative is not another Sadat-
like breakthrough, it is important, not least because
of its timing. It fills a void, presenting an Arab
vision of peace when there are no others; it comes
in the midst of a vicious cycle of Israeli-Palestinian
violence and suggests Arab backing to help end it;
and, because of the similarities, it seems to imply
an Arab readiness to accept the main principles of
the American peace plan announced by President
Clinton in December 2000. That could be crucial
for future peacemaking.

Attack On Terror

The fact that the initiative has been put forward at
this time is a subtle critique of Palestinian violence.
It offers the Palestinians a way out of their politi-
cally barren standoff with Israel and a way to
achieve, through diplomacy, the national goals they
have failed to attain by terror.
It affords the Palestinians a wider context for peace-
making with Israel and suggests that matters of war
and peace go beyond Palestinian decision-making.
For example, in total contrast to Nasser,
Mubarak is on record as saying that he would not
fight for the Palestinians "to the last Egyptian sol-
dier." Those who call for war, he said, know noth-
ing of what war is really like.
There is, of course, another side to the Saudi
coin: The Arabs are laying down conditions for
peace, and displaying little willingness to negotiate.
If Israel doesn't accept the conditions, could it be the
beginning of a slippery slope to regional war? Some
Arab leaders describe the Saudi initiative as Israel's
"last chance." Coming generations, they warn, may be
less amenable to the notion of peace with Israel.
They have a point. Younger Arabs across the
Middle East are becoming more, not less, militant
toward Israel. The hope was that better communi-
cations in the global village would spur moderniza-
tion, commerce and peace.
But 18 months of one-sided intifada (uprising)
pictures broadcast on Al Jazeera, the independent
Arab satellite TV station that reaches hundreds of
millions of viewers across the Middle East, have
fanned widespread street anger against Israel and
the United States.
Vice President Dick Cheney was exposed to the
anti-Israel and anti-Western sentiment during his
tour of the region this month, which led the Bush
administration to intensify its efforts toward an
Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
The administration now sees Israeli-Palestinian
quiet as essential for the promotion of American
interests in the region, including a possible attack
on President Saddam Hussein of Iraq.
That is where the Saudi initiative and American
policy might just meet.

Peace Catalyst

If the Americans back the Saudi initiative as part of
a major international effort to bring about Israeli-
Palestinian peace, interesting things could happen.
Israel's former foreign minister, Shlomo Ben-
Ami, long has called for an American-led interna-
tional conference to impose a settlement on the

Israelis and Palestinians, using the Clinton propos-
als as the basis. Should the administration actually
try something along those lines, the Saudi initiative
could be an important adjunct.
If, as is more likely, the international community
does not impose a deal but encourages the parties
to move ahead on the basis of the Clinton and
Saudi proposals, the United States still would have
to play a vital mediating role. The test of whether
the Saudi initiative has any mileage will be if the
Americans decide to run with it.
When negotiations bogged down at Camp David
in July 2000, Clinton appealed to the Saudis and
Egyptians to help•the Palestinians make concessions
on Jerusalem. They refused. Now they seem willing
to do so — even intimating to the United States
that they might be willing to back Palestinian flexi-
bility on an Israeli tie to the Temple Mount.
But is the Bush administration ready to make the
supreme effort Clinton did? When Nasser took
Arafat with him to Moscow, the Soviet Union was
still a great power. The Americans could not then
have made a Pax Americana even if they wanted to..
Now perhaps they can. ❑

Israel Insight

THE ISSUE

Yasser Arafat and his lieutenants continue to try
to convince world leaders and the media that the
Palestinians in the West Bank need an interna-
tional force to protect them from what they call
Israeli aggression. The deaths of two international
observers in Hebron this week clearly raises con-
cerns with such a plan.

8=IND T8i ISSUE

A Swiss and a Turkish member of the Temporary
International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), inter-
national observers in that city serving to imple-
ment a Palestinian-Israeli agreement signed in
1996, were killed on a nearby highway by
Palestinian terrorists. These observers get coopera-
tion and respectful relations from the Israeli army,
which, under Israel's democracy, is under civilian
control. The threat of terrorism from Palestinian
regular and irregular forces, as evidenced by the
two murders, is a much different and more dan-
gerous situation for them,

-- Allan Gale, Jewish Community Council
of Metropolitan Detroit

For the latest Mideast news, log on to
wvv-w.jewish.corn

-

Another Chance

Birthright turns to follow-up to keep young adults engaged.

JULIE WIENER
Jewish Telegraphic Agency

New York

T

Wo years ago, Jackie
Garonzik was one of
the first students to
participate in
Birthright Israel, the free 10-day
trip to Israel for Jewish young
adults.
Garonzik, a pre-med student at
Johns Hopkins University, came
back feeling "a strong pull toward
Judaism," and in the first few
months back at school she
explored Jewish groups on cam-
pus and "would go to Shabbat
dinner for a little bit."
But before long, despite the
reunions and the e-mail invita-
tions to Jewish activities at her
local Hillel, she recalls, "normal
life infiltrated."
Now on the cusp of graduation,
Garonzik still considers the trip
"one of the most amazing experi-
ences of my life." But she doesn't
feel her commitment to Judaism
has changed since she went on
Birthright.

While plenty of Birthright
alumni have gone on to be much
more involved in Jewish life,
Garonzik is hardly alone.
As a result, two years and
28,000 alumni after its launch,
Birthright is starting to focus on
improving its follow-up efforts.
A splashy and expensive pro-
gram for Jews aged 18 to 26,
Birthright is supported by philan-
thropists, federations and the
State of Israel.
"There's no question that no
matter what we tried to do in
terms of follow-up, it fell short of
what we needed to do," said
Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman,
executive vice president of
Birthright's North American oper-
ations.
"The telling point of whether
this extraordinary project has
been worth it will be what the
alumni do when they come
back," Zimmerman said. "We
haven't been set up to do any-
thing with that yet, though we
have made some meager
attempts."
Until now, Birthright funded a

Jackie Garonzik, left, visits
Jerusalem on one of Birthright
Israels first trips.

handful of pilot follow-up proj-
ects throughout North America,
and many of the 20 groups that
run its trips have also made
efforts.
Now, Birthright is hoping to
spearhead something larger and
more systematic.

Coordinator Hired

It recently hired Barry Chazan,
an education professor at
ANOTHER CHANCE on page 38

3/29

2002

35

