Accord in Geneva: An Israeli-Palestinian pact worth emulating

Wednesday, December 03, 2003

The accord reached by unofficial Israelis and Palestinians and celebrated Monday in Geneva is controversial. It is being criticized mainly because it turns a harsh glare on the abject failure of officials on both sides of the issue, as well as nonregional powers like the United States, to make progress toward resolution of this dangerous issue.

The Geneva accord is the diplomatic equivalent of an unauthorized biography of a controversial figure, written because the subject of the biography refuses to make himself available to the author for interview.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has virtually labeled as traitors the Israelis who participated in the talks that produced the document. Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat has provided a characteristic mealy-mouthed, lukewarm endorsement of it.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has commended the agreement, but, so far, President Bush has withheld comment, for domestic political reasons or because he doesn't wish to confront Mr. Sharon on the subject.

In general, governments do not like unofficial groups negotiating on serious matters. On the other hand, particularly when the governments in question -- headed by politicians -- may have a vested interest in a problem not being solved, or when the affair is inextricably tangled, it may be useful for private figures independently to lead or push governments to act.

In the Middle East negotiations, in principle governed by the road map devised by the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union, neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis have yet come to the table ready to deal. Each side cites reasons, but the fact is that they are not talking and they are killing each other.

The Palestinians have plagued themselves with endless arm-wrestling for power between Mr. Arafat and two prime ministers, first Mahmoud Abbas, who didn't last long, and now Ahmed Qurei, whose authority is so tenuous as not to make him a serious interlocuter for the Israelis yet.

On the Israeli side, after a symbolic pass at removing a few settler outposts, Mr. Sharon's government has proceeded apace not only with increasing and building up Israeli settlements, but also with construction of a 400-mile-long wall and fence across the West Bank. It has done so even in the face of U.S. retaliation through a $289.5 million reduction in loan guarantees.

No one argues that the provisions of the Geneva accord should be the final elements of an eventual agreement between the Israelis and the Palestinians, although they are in reasonable proximity. There is also no inconsistency between the road map, which leads up to negotiation of an actual agreement, and the Geneva pact, which could serve as a first draft of an eventual settlement.

We strongly urge all parties concerned, starting with the Israeli and Palestinian authorities and proceeding through the road map sponsors, starting with the United States, to take the popular sentiment behind the Geneva accord seriously.

The acclaim it has received is clear evidence that there is strong support among Israelis and Palestinians and in the world at large for serious negotiations, an agreement and eventually the peace and economic development that can follow from resolution of this lethal, long-standing problem.