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CFR Fellows Respond to Annapolis Conference

Council on Foreign Relations

Authors: Steven A. Cook, Douglas Dillon Fellow
Charles A. Kupchan, Senior Fellow for Europe Studies
Mohamad Bazzi, Edward R. Murrow Press Fellow
Steven Simon, Hasib J. Sabbagh Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies

November 28, 2007

The meetings at Annapolis this week were significant for the very fact that the United States was able to broker formal negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis after seven long years of violence and conflict. The presence of forty six other countries signals both the importance with which the international community regards this effort and, critically, bolsters Mahmoud Abbas who has very little political support in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Indeed, one of the objectives of the conference was to demonstrate to the Palestinian public the benefits of Abbas' path of negotiation as opposed to Hamas' method of confrontation in the hope of draining support away from the extremists. There were also broader strategic issues at play beyond the intrinsic importance of Palestinian-Israeli peace. Convening the meeting was part of an effort to cement a "virtual" coalition of Arab countries and Israel to contain the influence of Iran. The Palestinian problem is, after all, a potent issue through which Tehran has sought to affect politics in the Arab world.

Despite the diplomatic pageantry, however, the meetings are unlikely to produce much. Palestinian demands regarding the "right of return" are a non-starter for Israelis and Israel's supporters around the world. In addition, conditions on the ground are not favorable to Israeli territorial concessions. As long as Qassem rockets fired from Gaza -- from which Israel withdrew in 2005 -- fall on the Israeli town of Sderot, there is little chance any Israeli leader could contemplate withdrawing from the West Bank, which is closer to Israel's population centers.

Read the rest of this article on the cfr.org website.

Copyright 2007 by the Council on Foreign Relations. This material is republished on GlobalSecurity.org with specific permission from the cfr.org. Reprint and republication queries for this article should be directed to cfr.org.