jerusalem | Sharon’s government is expected to offer the new Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia unprecedented concessions for peace.
Few of the main protagonists are overly optimistic about the outcome, but Israel seems ready to make farther-reaching peace moves, the Americans are exerting more pressure on Israel and the Palestinians are looking to lay the basis for a more serious peace process.
All three parties have their own reasons for wanting to make the process work this time.
In a series of meetings with their Palestinian counterparts, senior Israeli officials have intimated that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is prepared to offer Qureia more than he offered Abbas.
The Americans also believe they could have done more for Abbas, and they have been signaling to both sides that if Qureia takes steps against terror, they will lean on Israel to reciprocate.
“If there is any sign that Abu Ala is serious, we might try to make the Israelis do something to make it worth Abu Ala’s while,” a senior American official said, using Qureia’s nom de guerre.
According to The New York Times, Qureia and Sharon may meet as soon as next week.
For his part, Qureia knows that if he manages to keep a lid on terrorism, he’ll be rewarded. With Sharon signaling a more conciliatory policy and the Americans ready to pressure Israel, Qureia is trying to shape a cease-fire agreement that would stop all Palestinian violence against Israeli civilians — settlers and residents of Israel proper alike — and soldiers.
In return, Israel would sign on to the cease-fire and suspend all military activity against Palestinian terrorists, including targeted killings. Qureia believes that Abbas’ biggest mistake was to initiate a Palestinian cease-fire that did not commit Israel to stop its anti-terror moves.
Sharon also is said to be considering offering a bold new peace proposal, including an idea for Palestinian independence beginning in the Gaza Strip, to be followed by the establishment of a Palestinian mini-state in Gaza and 50 percent of the West Bank sometime next year.
Sharon has good reasons for wanting to take the process forward.
Sharon’s lack of a long-term peace plan has been highlighted by two non-governmental peace proposals making the rounds: the “Geneva accord,” in which Israeli and Palestinian moderates propose a detailed model of a final agreement; and the “People’s Voice” principles framed by former Shin Bet security chief Ami Ayalon and Palestinian intellectual Sari Nusseibeh, which has been signed by about 100,000 Israelis and 60,000 Palestinians.
To silence his critics, Sharon is said be a preparing a major policy statement to follow the one he delivered in Herzliya before elections last January. Already dubbed “Herzliya 2,” the statement will give a better idea of just how far Sharon is prepared to go in peacemaking.
Leslie Susser is the diplomatic correspondent for the Jerusalem Report.