The dreary impasse in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process has prompted the Israeli prime minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, to set out a plan for unilateral separation as an alternative to the internationally agreed road map for a settlement there.
He has come under growing domestic pressure to do so, as opposition politicians float their own alternative solutions and members of his coalition - such as his deputy, Mr Ehud Olmert - say radical action is needed to preserve Israel's long-term integrity as a Jewish state. It should be remembered that Mr Sharon, a right-winger, was elected for a second term last January by normally centrist voters convinced he could deal most effectively with mounting threats to Israel's security. ...
Mr Sharon says his government will unilaterally separate from the Palestinians unless the road map talks make phased progress towards a Palestinian state by 2005 within the coming months. While he says he supports the road map, he cannot wait for Palestinians to deliver their side of the bargain by dismantling groups responsible for terrorism. Israel will therefore pull back from the West Bank, use the wall/fence it is building to separate the two peoples and rationalise Jewish settlements in the West Bank, dismantling unauthorised ones.
The plan has had a hostile reception internationally, precisely because of its unilateralism. Israel cannot be allowed to dictate the terms of a settlement like this, instead of negotiating them, according to United States, United Nations, European Union and Russian representatives, speaking on behalf of the road map's authors. Palestinian spokesmen say they cannot respond to such ultimatums. But Mr Sharon knows there is unlikely to be real pressure on him from the Bush administration in an election year and hopes to gauge this when he visits Washington next month. In the meantime he is content to have shifted the agenda in Israeli politics by repositioning himself towards the pragmatic centre, based on a commitment to withdraw from the West Bank and an apparently more open mind on negotiations with the Palestinians.
There has been no Israeli-Palestinian peace dividend from the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, but rather an intensification of the conflict. On both sides there are ample signs of popular exhaustion and a willingness to explore alternatives to violence. This needs active encouragement and pressure by all the road map's authors. The United States cannot be left as the only one to mount it. If it is, a cynical delaying tactic such as this can substitute for real engagement by the Sharon government, which has always been a reluctant participant.
Ireland can play a part in encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations and take confidence-building measures to boost them, during the EU Presidency next year. European political pressure is needed to match the scale of its aid and Europe's vulnerability to instability from this festering conflict. If the Bush administration is genuine about its desire to improve transatlantic relations it will not resist such initiatives.