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‘Miracle Needed’ to Reach Agreement

Despite the seemingly positive outcome of the Annapolis summit, it will take a miracle for Israelis and Palestinians to reach an agreement and end the conflict, a former Israeli negotiator said.
 
Shlomo Ben Ami, a former Israeli foreign minister with vast experience in peace talks with Palestinians, said Tuesday’s summit in Annapolis, Maryland was just the beginning of a process in dealing with core issues.
 
“So far, they have only agreed that they need to agree,” Ben Ami told The Media Line. “They haven’t addressed any past issues.”
 
A joint Palestinian-Israeli statement, completed just minutes before it was presented by United States President George W. Bush, set forth the parties’ pledge to begin “vigorous, ongoing and continuous” negotiations under American oversight, Bush said, with the goal of creating a Palestinians state by the end of 2008.
 
A steering committee will oversee the work of as many as 14 teams charged with tackling specific issues.
 
The first round of peace talks will be on December 12, and the two sides will continue to meet every two weeks after that.
 
The outline of the process will be the Road Map for peace.
 
Under this 2002 plan, the Quartet – the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia – outlined clear phases and target dates.
 
The declared aim of the Road Map was to achieve progress through reciprocal steps by the two parties, and reach a final and comprehensive settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by 2005. But the target dates have come and gone, and neither side has lived up to its obligations.
 
“None of the Israelis were able to dismantle the outposts and checkpoints, the first stage of the Road Map, nor were the Palestinians able to crack down on terrorism,” Ben Ami said.
 
The novelty of the Annapolis statement, he said, is that the Americans are putting together a monitoring mechanism to oversee the implementation of the first phase of the Road Map.
 
“Much depends on the capacity and the willingness of the U.S. administration to get involved in a Clintonian commitment to facilitate an agreement between the parties,” Ben Ami estimated.
 
The structure of Israeli politics makes it very difficult for any Israeli leader to make historic decisions, and political constraints on the Palestinian side are also an obstacle.
 
“One year is too long in Israeli politics and in the Middle East in general,” he said.
 
Moshe Shahal, a former Israeli cabinet minister for the Labor party and an ex- negotiator, is optimistic about the outcome of the Annapolis summit.
 
“The alternative to not talking is clear – we resolve by confrontation,” Shahal said. “If people act rationally, most of the problems can be solved on paper by the end of 2008. The implementation will likely take longer.”