Rice Heads to Mideast To Renew Israeli-Palestinian Peace Talks
16 February 2007
Peace negotiations resume after six-year hiatus
Washington –- Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice begins a weeklong trip to the Middle East February 16 intending to capitalize on recent contacts between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to re-energize the long dormant Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
“[A]t the end of the roadmap, there is a destination called the Palestinian state, and I think it makes sense to begin to talk about how you get to that destination, what the Palestinian state will look like, what has to be achieved in order to get to a Palestinian state,” she told Al-Arabiya television February 15.
Rice told reporters at a roundtable discussion the same day that she hopes “this process of developing a political horizon will show to the Palestinian people what is at stake, what is possible.”
Rice is scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with Olmert and Abbas, followed by a trilateral meeting with the two leaders February 19. She sought to temper public expectations heading into the meetings, saying, “I don't want to ask people to run before they start walking.” She noted that the two parties have not discussed the peace process for more than six years. (See related article.)
Nevertheless, Rice said she expects the upcoming discussions to be wide-ranging. In addition to final status issues, such as borders and Jerusalem, she said talks likely would cover the governance capabilities of the Palestinian state, security arrangements and any contributions needed from the international community.
Rice said the United States would withhold judgment on the new Palestinian government until it is formed. The United States, along with much of the international community, suspended financial assistance to the Palestinian government following Hamas’ electoral victory in January 2006. (See related article.)
Through the Quartet for Middle East peace, which includes the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, the international community called on the Hamas government to renounce violence, recognize Israel and respect all previous agreements between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Hamas has yet to accept those principles.
A Saudi-brokered agreement between Hamas and Fatah, aimed at quelling the violent clashes between the two factions, resulted in the announcement of a new unity government in early February. It is still not clear, however, whether that government will abide by the Quartet’s principles. (See related article.)
Rice said those principles would be the basis on which the United States and the rest of the international community would judge the new government. “[I]f you are going to have a two-state solution you have to recognize the right of the other party to exist. If you are going to have negotiations for peace, you have to renounce violence. If you are going to be trusted with agreements, you have to honor past agreements,” she said.
She said she hopes the new government will bring calm to the Palestinian Territories, where factional fighting has left scores of Palestinians dead in recent months. She said she also hopes the government will put an end to rocket attacks on Israel and work for the release of kidnapped Israeli Corporal Gilad Shalit.
Rice said she hopes to bring the Arab states into the peace process. “I would hope that as we all begin to talk about and move toward a political horizon that the Arab states would understand that that political horizon does have to include them and it has to include a relationship between them and Israel,” she said.
The secretary acknowledged that the fluid status of the Palestinian government makes this a difficult time to resume discussions, but she said Abbas has demonstrated his commitment to the principles of peaceful negotiation and has the authority to negotiate on behalf of the Palestinians.
“I, again, think it would be a mistake to not take advantage of his commitment and the commitment of that part of the Palestinian leadership to work toward a realization of a political horizon for the Palestinian people so that the Palestinian people know what is at stake for them in the future,” she said. “Without a political horizon it is going to be difficult to show why this course, the course of [Abbas], is better than other courses that others may try to get them to follow.”
Following her trip to the Middle East, Rice will meet with the Quartet members in Berlin, to discuss progress in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and developments with the new Palestinian government. (See related article.)
Transcripts of Rice’s interview with Al-Arabiya and her press roundtable are available at the State Department Web site.
For more information on U.S. policy, see The Middle East: A Vision for the Future.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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