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Analysis: Rice Back to Mideast Drawing Board

Council on Foreign Relations

January 12, 2007
Prepared by: Eben Kaplan

Just less than a year after Hamas claimed victory in Palestinian elections, fighting between rival factions in Gaza increasingly resembles a low-level civil war (Telegraph), with tit-for-tat killings and abductions a weekly occurrence. Enter U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, whose current tour of the region (TIME) aims to extinguish Palestinian violence while tending the embers of the Mideast peace process.

The top U.S. diplomat has her work cut out for her. In recent weeks, prospects for a power-sharing agreement between the dominant Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, gave way to internecine violence, with the two sides’ leaders “behaving like rival gang chiefs” (Daily Star). The Bush administration, meanwhile, intends to provide Fatah security forces with $86 million (WSJ) in an effort to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and counter Iran’s support for Hamas. U.S. Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones defends the move, saying “by restoring the balance (NPR), we will help restore security in the region."

Few share Ambassador Jones’ optimism. Before any serious dialogue can take place between Israelis and Palestinians, the Palestinians must overcome the internal power struggle (ISN) that undermined previous efforts. Khaled Meshaal, Hamas’ exiled leader, said from Damascus that “Palestinians have no option but dialogue” (Reuters).

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.