Erekat: Shift in US focus on Palestine significant

Dubai: The new US administration has made an important shift when it talks of the creation of a Palestinian state as being in the national interest of the US, Dr Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian Liberation Organisation's (PLO) head of negotiations, said.

"This recognition is very important since it makes it easier for the administration to persuade the American public that it should happen, but it also makes clear how important President Barack Obama thinks it is to find an end to the conflict," Erekat told Gulf News at this week's World Economic Forum on the Middle East.

"Obama does not have to reinvent the wheel," Erekat said. "So much has been done in the past, and so many administrations have come and gone as the conflict has been examined, that there is a clear way forward. It just needs commitment to make it happen.

"In the past, American presidents went to Israel and found out what the Israelis might be ready to do, and they fashioned their administration's position on that starting point. This was wrong.

"Instead, Obama should take the vision of the Two State Solution, and then make realistic policies based on that vision, which then should be backed by timelines and monitoring, so all sides know what is happening."

Erekat saw four new elements in the US position on Palestine since Obama's election. Firstly, the administration is talking of a Palestinian state being in the US' own national interest, which is a significant shift, but it also shows how the political geography has changed with over 200,000 US youths people serving in Iraq.

Secondly, the administration is speaking of the Two State Solution as being the only solution. It is not offering a general discussion on finding other ways forward.

Thirdly, the US wants the Arabs to play a role in many issues outside the immediate Arab region. "The US is tired of Arabs coming to see them and telling them what to do. The new administration will ask us to play a role in a wide range of issues, and the Arabs should be ready to help if they can."

Erekat said that the US is building a matrix of responsibilities and interests which will define what Arabs and others could do to help in many areas such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia, and other issues

Lastly, the Obama administration wants the Palestinians to stay the course on reform. "They want us to move to having one Palestinian Authority and one security force," Erekat said, making clear that this was a priority for the Palestinians themselves.

Erekat expected the Israelis to try to focus the dialogue between Netanyahu and Obama on Iran. He thought that while Obama might agree with Netanyahu that Iran is a big issue, he imagined that Obama would then add that Israel should leave that problem to the US, and instead Israel should focus on achieving the Two State Solution.