Powell's Progress

Even with a 'road map,' it'll be tough to get Israelis and Palestinians on the same page.

May 13, 2003

Plunging again into the roiling mess of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary of State Colin Powell should get credit for attaining the improbable: He succeeded in persuading Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, to agree to meet face-to-face this Friday.

Powell had met with both men over the weekend, in Israel and the West Bank, in an attempt to restart the peace process through direct U.S. diplomacy for the first time in more than a year. Both leaders came under strong U.S. pressure to discuss the peace plan, known as the "road map," that has been promoted by Washington, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. It calls for an end to terrorist violence against Israel, a halt to Jewish settlements in Palestinian lands and the founding of a Palestinian state by 2005.

The announcement yesterday of Abbas' and Sharon's meeting comes as a welcome development. If anything, Powell's weekend meetings with the two leaders had been greeted with skepticism, showing how much distrust still existed and how wide a gap both sides had to bridge even before they embarked on the path sketched out in Bush's road map.

Abbas had explicitly accepted the plan's terms, but rejected as trivial Israel's proposal to lift some travel restrictions. Sharon, however, indicated he was not prepared to discuss any terms in detail until after his May 20 meeting with Bush at the White House. Yesterday, however, the two leaders had a change of heart and agreed to talk to each other. This came amid conflicting signals on the ground: Israel yesterday agreed to free 180 Palestinian detainees and allow 250,000 Palestinian workers to enter Israel from the West Bank, but also reimposed a travel ban on the Gaza Strip.

With luck, Sharon and Abbas - whose degree of power is still unclear - will put aside their differences to consider the heart of the peace plan, which calls for reciprocal confidence-building steps aimed at establishing a Palestinian state and giving Israel assurances of security. The hope is that Powell's intercession - and his pledge that the United States will remain involved from now on - will finally lead to rational compromises on both sides, an end to violence and a chance for peace.