Backward Steps for Mideast

Escalating violence in Israel forced the Bush administration to focus more attention on the Middle East several months ago, dispatching emissaries to the region and welcoming many Arab leaders to Washington. That has produced a more nuanced understanding of the current conflict, along with a vigorous debate about the U.S. role inside the administration.

Bush’s meetings Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon could have been another hopeful development. But Bush kicked U.S. policy backward, endorsing yet more Israeli military attacks on Palestinian targets and dismissing Mubarak’s suggestion of a timetable for Palestinian statehood.

Bush is correct that Israel has a right to self-defense. But the most recent raid on Arafat’s Ramallah headquarters and reimposition of house arrest is a military response to the suicide bombing of a bus in northern Israel last week that killed 17 bus passengers. A simultaneous political process is required. Israel needs to protect its people from terrorists, but at the same time negotiate with Palestinians on a state in the West Bank and Gaza territories occupied since the 1967 war.

An Israeli official said Bush and Sharon did not discuss the borders of a Palestinian state or the fate of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Those issues are among the most divisive between Palestinians and Israelis, along with the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel and the status of Jerusalem. They are certain to come up at a U.S.-sponsored international peace conference on the Middle East that Washington says will be held this year, perhaps in Turkey. Bush hinted that the conference could be delayed because “no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government.” It is true that the conference will be doomed without detailed preparation and a firm agenda, but Palestinians may see delays in the talks as a stall.

Mubarak, Sharon and Bush do agree on the need for reform of the Palestinian Authority, known for corruption and feuding among its security forces. Arafat’s supposed government reorganization--a smaller Cabinet and a new interior minister--was largely cosmetic.

Even with his headquarters in shards, Arafat is not powerless. He must take far tougher action to stop suicide bombings, or most Israelis, not just Sharon and his supporters, will continue to doubt he is willing to live in peace with Israel. But Israel’s prime minister cannot decide who heads the Palestinian Authority.

Hopes were high two years ago at Camp David that a lasting peace was near. The U.S. is still the key to getting Israelis and Palestinians to holster their guns. Bush should get back on track to a plan that promises security for both sides.