תקשורת בינלאומית

In two days of fierce fighting, the gunmen of Hamas have virtually taken over the Gaza Strip. This is a defeat for Palestinians, and a defeat for Israeli and American policy as well.

Ephraim Sneh is Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister. A member of the Labor Party, he served in the same post under Prime Minister Ehud Barak. The opinions expressed below are his own, and do not necessarily represent IPF

Note: Deputy Minister Sneh's conversation with an IPF audience, excerpted below, took place on the eve of the latest round of intra-Palestinian fighting, but before its implications became clear

The chaos in the Gaza strip offers no hope for a stable Palestinian government of any kind 
that is capable of providing law and order. In this environment there is no real possibility of improving the socio-economic conditions of the people, and substantial Israeli-Palestinian engagement is out of the question

Non-governmental peace organizations (NGOs) also have a valuable role in promoting a peace process, especially in what's become a protracted diplomatic impasse. At such times, an endeavour such as the Geneva Initiative can negotiate understandings between both sides, thus giving the public a sense of hope that an agreement may be possible and encouraging popular pressure on the leaders to seriously consider the option of a negotiated settlement.

The Saudi and Egyptian foreign ministers have stressed that Israel should accept the initiative “in principle” and as “a framework”, after which all issues were open for negotiations. The border clause says that borders should “be based” on the 1967 lines, implying that the exact borderlines would be negotiated. On the refugees, the key terminology in the clause is the phrase “agreed upon”. By definition, “agreed upon” means Israel signing off on a solution to the refugee issue that it, too, accepts.

The Bush administration has drawn up an eight-month timetable setting dates for when Israeli and Palestinian leaders would complete steps meant to bolster prospects for peace talks

The Mecca agreement brokered by Saudi Arabia has helped contain, if not eliminate, the fighting among Palestinian factions, which is commendable. However, for it to be considered a success, it has to lead to lifting of the political and economic siege against the Palestinians by the Quartet.
The new Palestinian unity government should unconditionally accept the Arab League Initiative as the first serious step toward a meaningful political process.

Israeli officials, pressed by Washington, are suddenly finding much to praise in a Saudi peace proposal that was dismissed when it was offered in 2002, at the height of a series of Palestinian suicide bombings.