Never-say-die US desparate for deal

Sept.2, 2008

Never-say-die US desparate for deal


AN INTENSE US effort to get the Palestinians to sign an "interim peace agreement" before the end of the year has faltered. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has rejected the idea and is insisting on a comprehensive agreement that firmly sets out the foundations of a solution to the Palestinian problem. Abbas acted very much within his rights and political imperatives when he told Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that the Palestinians could not be and would not "part of an interim or shelf agreement," least of all for the sake of pleasing the Bush administration.
Olmert's aides have made it no secret that the beleagured Israeli prime minister hoped the Palestinians would sign a document outlining any agreements reached with Israel before he leaves office next year (when his expected resignation this month takes goes into effect).
US President George Bush, who steps down in January 2009, pledged at last year's Annapolis conference that there would be an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement before the end of 2008. Desptie scepticism, the Middle East welcomed the pledge and waited for Bush deliver. Arab leaders also offered help in order to smoothen the way towards such an agreement.
However, it has become abdundantly clear since then that the Israelis and Palestinians remain wide apart of the key issues of the conflict and there is no magic wand that could produce an agreement as promised by Bush.
Frequent summit meetings and negotiating sessions have made little apparent progress on the core issues that have stymied peace efforts for decades — including borders, Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
The Bush administration is also convinced that there could not be a real agreement between the two sides in the timeframe the US president has set. However, Bush has to show something that could be touted as a major accomplishment during his tenure as president. An Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement fits the bill and Bush went for it, hoping to twist arms into producing an agreement that could be waved before the world as one of the most important achievements of his presidency. It is of little concern to Bush or an other member of his administration what the agreement actually contains or whether it remains valid after they leave office.
Indeed, Israel was and is willing to help Bush's plan, but it balked at stating clearly its vision of a peace agreement with the Palestinians. Clearly, the Israeli version of an agreement falls far too short of the minimum that the Palestinians could accept, and hence the deadlock.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat summed it up clearly when he said on Sunday: "We want an agreement to end the (Israeli) occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. President Abbas told Olmert that we will not be part of an interim or shelf agreement. Either we agree on all issues, or no agreement at all."
Effectively, the position rules out an accord by a January target date.
However, that does not mean that the US would give up the effort. Abbas could expect to find himself under increasing pressure to sign on the Israeli-dotted lines knowing well that there is little hope that anything that is included in the agreement stand any chance of being implemented.
Washington is desparate for that document and the world could bet anything that it would not give up whatever the cost until the last moment.