Region | Palestinian Territories
Israeli-Palestinian peace deal deadline doubtful
Fighting irrelevance and a ticking clock, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarked Wednesday on yet another Middle East peacemaking trip, hoping to secure fragile Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and leave a viable process for the incoming Obama administration.
- Agencies
- Published: 09:55 November 6, 2008
Washington: Fighting irrelevance and a ticking clock, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarked Wednesday on yet another Middle East peacemaking trip, hoping to secure fragile Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and leave a viable process for the incoming Obama administration.
With just 77 days left in office, Rice is making her eighth trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories since the parties set a year-end goal of reaching a peace deal at last November's Annapolis peace conference. She will also visit Egypt and Jordan to shore up Arab support for the talks.
Meeting the target date for an agreement is now highly unlikely, especially with political uncertainty in Israel and the lame duck Bush administration's waning influence, but Rice intends to press the two sides to carry on and, if possible, come up with an outline of how they can move ahead after January 20.
"We're going to try to put this process in the best possible place going forward so that whomever comes next can formulate their policies, take a look at the process, and possibly use it, take it further," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.
"Our focus is going to be on moving the process forward as far as it can be moved forward in a responsible way, while preserving the process," he said. "That has great value."
The Israeli-Palestinian situation is one of several Middle East trouble spots that the Bush administration will bequeath to President-elect Barack Obama. The war in Iraq, Iran's nuclear program and troubles with Syria are among the most troublesome.
The administration is expected to reply on Thursday to Iraq's proposals for amendments in a security deal that will govern the presence of US troops there, something Obama has pledged to reduce quickly. International efforts to get Iran to halt suspect atomic activities are at a standstill and Syria has reacted furiously to a US airstrike in its territory.
Obama has yet to offer specifics on how will approach the peace process, but his foreign policy advisers include many former Clinton administration officials who were actively involved in the 2000 Camp David talks and may be eager to re-enter the fray.
Still, Rice has made clear she will not give up on the push for an Israeli-Palestinian deal while she is on the job.
Rice will see Abbas and outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert along with the chief negotiators from both sides before heading to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik in Egypt where top officials from the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East will be briefed on the status of the talks on Sunday.
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