Israeli-Palestinian peace talks stall
‘Baby steps’ now being advocated
CAIRO - The Obama administration has all but abandoned hope for an early resumption of face-to-face negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders or substantive movement toward agreement on a Palestinian state - an acknowledgment it has fallen short of one of its major foreign policy goals.
With virtually no possibility of comprehensive high-level negotiations in the foreseeable future, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has begun to urge the Arabs to encourage Palestinian participation in lower-level talks with Israel on narrow economic, social, and security issues, according to Arab and Western diplomats.
“We recognize that things have stalled,’’ Clinton spokesman P.J. Crowley said. “We’re looking at a variety of ways that increase interaction between the parties in some form.’’ He described the proposals as “baby steps’’ that would eventually “create a momentum of their own.’’
The approach is similar to the policy advocated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has argued that cooperation on economic development and other issues would be more effective than “top down’’ negotiations. Such cooperation is underway in some areas, particularly West Bask security, but Palestinians have been hesitant, in general, toward the approach for fear it would delay discussion of more basic issues, such as borders.
Six weeks ago, President Obama attempted to jump-start direct talks with a call to action. “Permanent status negotiations must begin, and begin soon,’’ he said in United Nations speech. “It is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward.’’
But Palestinian rejection last weekend of Israel’s proposal to limit but not stop construction on Arab land was the culmination of months of stalemate and political jockeying on both sides that the administration, like so many of its predecessors, has been unable to break through.
Clinton flew to Cairo last night from a conference in Morocco, where Arab foreign ministers listened skeptically to her reasons for describing an Israeli offer - to allow unlimited construction in East Jerusalem and the completion of up to 3,000 housing units, while exercising restraint in the rest of the West Bank - as unprecedented and worthy of discussion.
The Arabs offered little response to the limited engagement option Clinton outlined. Although she had been scheduled to return to Washington yesterday, following a weeklong trip that began in Pakistan, Clinton quickly arranged to travel here for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, whom Crowley described as a key figures in the peace process. US special envoy George Mitchell made a similar appeal Monday to Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman.
