Region | Palestinian Territories
Focus on Palestine talks, Israel told
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cautioned against a growing sentiment in Israel to pursue peace with Syria instead of with warring Palestinian factions, saying there is "no substitute" for creating a Palestinian state.
- Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
- Published: 00:00 May 31, 2007
- Israeli soldiers check IDs of Palestinians at the checkpoint of Huara, near the West Bank city of Nablus yesterday. Hamas political leader Khalid Mesha'al based in Damascus said that Hamas intends to continue its attacks on Israel despite the Israeli army operations in the Gaza Strip.
- Image Credit: EPA
Berlin: Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has cautioned against a growing sentiment in Israel to pursue peace with Syria instead of with warring Palestinian factions, saying there is "no substitute" for creating a Palestinian state.
Rice, who was to discuss the stalled peace process with diplomats here yesterday, has worked for months to lay the groundwork for Palestinians and Israelis to begin discussing what she calls a "political horizon" - the parameters of a possible Palestinian state.
But with violence erupting between Palestinian factions - and with Israel under constant attack from rockets launched from the Gaza Strip - Rice has faced criticism from some outside experts for spending so much time on a diplomatic long shot, rather than seeking to quickly end the violence.
Israeli officials have confirmed Israeli news media reports that there is intense discussion about whether to pursue a peace agreement with Syria, which would in effect abandon the Palestinian track for now.
Bashar's interest
Syrian President Bashir Al Assad has strongly suggested he is interested in reaching an agreement similar to one nearly concluded by his late father a decade ago, but Israeli officials are unsure whether he could actually deliver a deal.
Some Israeli officials, while increasingly sceptical that Rice's efforts will amount to much, are concerned that putting the Palestinian track on hold will only increase anger and resentment in the Palestinian areas.
Rice briefly met with the Syrian foreign minister, Wallid Mua'alem, in Egypt this month to discuss the situation in Iraq, ending the administration's diplomatic isolation of Syria. But she indicated that she, too, had doubts the Syrian government was ready to negotiate.
Core of a lot of problems
"My understanding is that it is the view of Israelis, and certainly our view, that the Syrians are engaged in behaviour right now that is destabilising to the region," Rice said to reporters travelling with her on a European tour that will also include stops in Vienna and Madrid.
The Palestinian issue "is at the core of a lot of problems in the region," Rice added. She said "there is no substitute for trying to get to the place where the Palestinians finally have their state and the Israelis finally have a neighbour who can live in peace and security with them."
The "Israeli-Palestinian track is extremely important" because it "unlocks the key" to "further engagement between the Arabs and the Israelis," Rice said.
Rice's peace efforts this year have been stymied by multiple factors. She has attempted to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who favours peace talks, against the legislature headed by Hamas, the anti-Israeli militant group. But in February, Abbas agreed to a fragile unity government between his Fatah party and Hamas. Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has abysmal public approval ratings because of his handling of last summer's war in Lebanon, limiting his willingness to make concessions. Olmert has frustrated US officials by seeming to be increasingly indecisive.
On Rice's last trip to Israel more than two months ago, she announced that Olmert and Abbas had agreed to meet every two weeks. But only one such session has been held since then. Aides to the two men said on Tuesday that the leaders would meet next week.
In meetings yesterday with foreign ministers from other Group of Eight industrialised nations, Rice was to discuss the continuing dispute with Iran over its nuclear programme.
Israel academics demand freedom of movement for Palestinian students
A group of internationally renowned Israeli authors and university presidents demanded yesterday that Israel grant Palestinian students from the Gaza Strip free movement to superior universities in the West Bank. In a joint letter to Defence Minister Amir Peretz, they called on Israel to lift its sweeping ban on the travel of Palestinians between the West Bank and Gaza so students could pursue their education.
"Blocking access to higher education for Palestinian students from Gaza who choose to study in the West Bank casts a dark shadow over Israel's image as a state which respects and supports the principle of academic freedom and the right to education," the letter states. The defence ministry said it hadn't received the letter and had no immediate comment.
AP
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