Military

DATE=8-29-03

TYPE=INTERVIEW

NUMBER=3-781

TITLE=ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS

BYLINE=DAVID BORGIDA

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

INTRODUCTION

Palestinian gunmen kill an Israeli settler and wound his pregnant wife. This as Israel steps up efforts to stop Palestinian militants from attacking Israelis. Theodore Feifer, Middle East expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace discusses the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

MR. BORGIDA

And now joining us, Ted Feifer, a Middle East expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace here in Washington. Mr. Feifer, thanks for joining us.

Let's shed a little bit of insight, if we can, on the current events in the Middle East. More violence. Your sense of how badly this is going to disrupt the peace process.

MR. FEIFER

My focus is on the political situation. And the political situation is in drift. That means deterioration is inevitable. Unless something happens, the road map is in real trouble, and it is very possible that the initiative will collapse.

MR. BORGIDA

Can the United States do anything any more than it has been doing in recent months to try to revive this?

MR. FEIFER

I think yes. The road map is an imperfect initiative, but it is the only game in town. It offers the possibility for Israelis and Palestinians to do things they ordinarily wouldn't want to do and it also gives them a direction to go to achieve their requirements.

Now, the United States is the godfather of the initiative and there is lots more it can do to try to keep it alive, taking into consideration the problems that we're facing in Iraq.

MR. BORGIDA

Give us an example or two. What can it do?

MR. FEIFER

Things that could be done, one idea is to try to influence Arab foreign ministers to come to the region to help foster Abu Mazen and the Palestinian Authority. Another option, a senior American official to come and shuttle, to try to get the road map moving again. Not a monitor who is new to the area and doesn't have the authority to get things done, but a senior official who does have the ear of the President and is prepared to stay to make things happen.

MR. BORGIDA

Let me play devil's advocate for a moment, Mr. Feifer. You think diplomacy, more diplomacy, of the kind you're suggesting can really get to the feeling on the ground in the Middle East, where there is such antagonism and hostility between the two sides, you really think that can help?

MR. FEIFER

I think diplomacy can give the Palestinian Authority the reason to actually move against the opponents of peace. I think diplomacy in fact is the only thing that could prevent a deterioration.

MR. BORGIDA

Let's talk quickly about the relationship now between Mr. Abbas and Mr. Arafat. There has been some tension in that relationship in terms of who is really leading the Palestinians. Give us your sense of the internal fray there.

MR. FEIFER

Well, quite clearly Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen, doesn't have the power he needs, the power that the road map wants to give him, to be the authority in the Palestinian Territories. Yasser Arafat does have the influence, he does control security forces. Those forces have to be controlled by Abu Mazen if he is going to have a chance to be the authority in the Territories.

Yasser Arafat, however, is a maneuverer, a survivor. He will do whatever he can to try to demonstrate that he is the kingmaker, he is the key player, and you have to come to him to get anything done.

MR. BORGIDA

Quickly, in about 30 seconds, is this relationship very, very key now at the moment? Because it seems if they're at odds, it could taint the entire perspective.

MR. FEIFER

I don't think anything will change with Yasser Arafat. He will continue to maneuver. What we can do, we as the United States, those who support the Palestinian Authority in Europe and in the Middle East, to support Mahmoud Abbas is to try to give him the muscle to be the authority he has to be.

MR. BORGIDA

We'll keep an eye on this. Thanks for being with us. Ted Feifer, Middle East expert at the U.S. Institute of Peace here in Washington.

(End of interview.)

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