Dust Off Mideast ‘Road Map’

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell’s meetings with Israelis and Palestinians this week produced encouraging comments about scheduled elections in January for a successor to Yasser Arafat as head of the Palestinian Authority. The goal of free elections is attainable, but the Palestinians must first stop killing Israelis, who in turn have to relax restrictions on Palestinians so they can vote.

Powell met separately with leaders in Israel and the occupied territories Monday on his way to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik to enlist Arab support for the rebuilding of Iraq. The combination of visits was a melancholy reminder of how much Iraq has dominated the Bush administration’s foreign policy agenda, making important issues like peace between the Israelis and Palestinians distant runners-up for attention.

After Arafat’s death this month, President Bush said the Palestinians had a “great chance” to establish an independent state. Bush proclaimed U.S. support for such a state more than two years ago, before the invasion of Iraq. But he has done little to follow up. Instead, he imitated Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s refusal to deal with Arafat.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair flew to Washington earlier this month and pushed Bush to become more involved in the peace process. But at his joint news conference with Blair, the president continued to lay most of the obligation to make improvements on the Palestinians.

Bush needs to push Sharon to coordinate his planned withdrawal of Israeli settlers from the Gaza Strip with Palestinians and with Egypt, which borders Gaza. An abrupt pullout of Israeli security forces could cause chaos and let groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad, which do not recognize Israel’s right to exist, gain control.

The United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States coordinated a “road map” for peace that has been ignored for months but should be dusted off. It calls for Palestinians to cease attacks on Israelis and for Israelis to stop building settlements on territory seized in the 1967 war.

The renewed diplomacy offers Israelis and Palestinians a chance to start talking again and working toward two independent states living in peace. The distance both sides have traveled backward since nearly reaching agreement at the end of the Clinton administration is enormous and will take great effort to recover. Elections could stamp legitimacy on a Palestinian government and give Israel a partner to deal with, assisted by Washington and the other nations hoping to end the bloodshed.