Mideast Needs Bold Intervention

If there is anything that the violent clashes between Israelis and Palestinians underscore, it is how much they have to lose if they don’t reach a peace agreement. The sides have come closer than ever to a peace deal, but their accomplishment is being lost in the heat of street battles.

President Clinton, who has guided the peace process, spoke to Middle Eastern leaders over the past few days in an effort to stop the killing. He should be prepared, however, to go to the Middle East and meet face to face with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Barak’s office said the prime minister was prepared to extend his deadline for finding an agreement. The immediate task is to stop the violence before it spreads throughout the region. Already, fighting has spilled out of Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza Strip to Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. Arab leaders in Jordan, Egypt and even Kuwait are under increasing pressure from demonstrators at home angry over mounting Palestinian casualties. The bloodshed, as one Middle East analyst cautioned, is turning from an Israeli-Palestinian conflict into an Arab-Israeli one.

Palestinians blame Ariel Sharon, right-wing leader of the Likud Party and no friend of peace, for touching off the unrest with a provocative visit to Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem. They also blame Barak for using excessive force against the angry Palestinian response. Israelis in turn claim that Arafat may even have orchestrated the violence to gain international sympathy for his negotiating position. Both sides may be right, but finger-pointing and recrimination will not help defuse the crisis.

Despite the mounting tension, few anticipate an all-out war. Still, the spirit of compromise in which the peace negotiations have taken place is shifting as confidence in the leadership on both sides dissipates. Arab and Israeli extremists are wasting no time exploiting the crisis.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov flew to the region to help stem the violence. Visits like this are useful, if only to open new diplomatic avenues and underscore the strategic importance of peace in the Middle East. But it is ultimately the United States that has played, and will continue to play, a pivotal role in the Mideast negotiations.The risks of failure are high. But the stakes are higher.

Clinton was right in mounting a “full diplomatic press” in recent days to try to end the clashes. If that fails, he should stand ready to fly to the Middle East for a summit. Clearly, this is the time for a bold move.