Cast a Steady Eye on Peace

As Palestinian suicide bombers continue to explode their deadly nail bombs in crowds of Israeli civilians and Israel moves in fury to take back parts of the West Bank, President Bush has hesitated, putting his widely anticipated proposal of a new peace process on hold. But Bush must return firmly to his call for the creation of an interim Palestinian state. Left to their own devices, Israelis and Palestinians will remain trapped in a worsening cycle of violence. Only focused American diplomatic initiatives and influence have a chance of creating peace.

The Bush plan, as outlined in news reports, offers a way forward. It would create an interim Palestinian state as early as September with provisional boundaries that encompass 40% to 50% of West Bank and Gaza Strip territories. It is supposed to be approved at an international peace conference--as long as the Palestinians can show they have made progress in stopping terrorism and in reshaping their own security forces, a project on which CIA Director George J. Tenet is working.

Any interim agreement would be based on the Oslo accords, the land-for-peace framework that both sides agreed to in 1993. The toughest issues, such as the Palestinian insistence on East Jerusalem as a capital, would be put off, to be settled within three years.

Neither Israeli nor Palestinian officials are enthusiastic about an interim state. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is peddling the illusion that a fence can protect Israelis. He sees any form of statehood as the road to full Palestinian sovereignty, whereas Arab leaders see any interim step as a dangerous diversion from establishing a fully legitimate, independent state. The suspicion on both sides is so high that only U.S. intervention can break the impasse.

One reason the violence has spiraled is because the Bush administration initially backed away from the Clinton administration’s intensive efforts over several years to reach a settlement. What looked to the incoming president like a rickety stalemate, however, was a peaceful nirvana compared with today.

Bush’s reluctant endorsement of a peace proposal shows that he is heeding moderate Arab allies, particularly Jordan’s King Abdullah and Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, who fear that their own countries are becoming dangerously radicalized.

The Bush administration has realized that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict jeopardizes the larger war on terrorism. However reluctant he may have been to commit his prestige to ending the conflict, Bush must not let suicide bombers exercise veto power over the peace process.