The US president must revitalise efforts for peace – or face humiliation, writes SIMON TISDALL
IT’S GETTING harder each day for US president Barack Obama to maintain the illusion of progress in Middle East peacemaking.
The UN Human Rights Council’s vote to condemn January’s Israeli assault on Gaza, rejected by Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu at the weekend, was the latest blow to US efforts to kickstart negotiations on a two-state solution.
Across the region, all the signs point, not to reconciliation, but to renewed confrontation. As Washington talks about talks, the Arab world mutters ominously about the prospect of a third intifada.
George Mitchell, Obama’s special envoy, will keep up appearances by holding more meetings with Palestinian officials in Washington tomorrow. After his embarrassingly unproductive summit with Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in New York last month, Obama instructed his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, to deliver a progress report by mid-October. They are expected to meet after Mitchell’s talks. But what can she tell him?
On the Palestinian side, attitudes are hardening as hopes engendered by Obama’s promise of a brave new dawn fade.
Abbas is probably politically weaker now than at any time since becoming president. Fatah officials admit his decision, under US pressure, to delay action on the Goldstone report on Israel’s invasion of Gaza was disastrous. Although Abbas reversed his position, his misjudgment was a gift for Hamas and other opponents, who dismiss him as a “collaborator”.
Abbas last week denied the charges while appearing to distance himself from US mediation efforts. He called on Mitchell to enforce Washington’s initial demand that Israel end construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, a demand rejected by Netanyahu.
Egyptian efforts to reconcile the rival Palestinian factions appear, meanwhile, to have stalled. Officials say the signing of a co-operation agreement between Fatah and Hamas, due on October 25th, has been postponed indefinitely. One reason is the row over the Goldstone report. Another, according to Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz, was a US veto. It said Mitchell had told Egypt the deal would harm the peace process. His objection appears rooted in the US and Israel’s refusal to deal with Hamas.
Hardliners on both sides are exploiting the stalemate. Hamas leader Khaled Meshal said it was time for Arab states to renew their drive for the “liberation” of Palestine “from the sea to the river” (meaning the destruction of Israel).
If Clinton is frank with Obama, she will tell him Netanyahu, while saying he is ready to negotiate a two-state solution, is adopting an evermore inflexible line in practice.
Addressing the Knesset last week, the Israeli leader ignored the settlements issue and reasserted that Palestinians must recognise Israel as a Jewish state if they want a state of their own. He is also claiming the UN wants the “delegitimisation” of Israel and is encouraging global terrorism.
His confidence stems from the perception that he has “seen off” Obama and his naive peacemaking notions. US diplomats warn that Obama is “a man of steel” and will not give up. This assertion is about to be tested. – (Guardian service)