More on Olmert’s offer: The Washington Post’s Take

Israel’s Offer: Ehud Olmert has made clear what Palestinians have to gain by forming a new government.

AFTER FIVE months of violence and political drift, there has been encouraging movement toward peace on the Israeli-Palestinian front this week. Much of it is because of Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert. Over the weekend Mr. Olmert agreed to a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a deal Israeli governments had refused to make for the past several years. On Monday — though a few Palestinian rockets were still falling in Israel in violation of the cease-fire — the prime minister delivered a major speech in which he offered the release of “numerous” Palestinian prisoners, a significant reduction in controls on the movement of people and goods in Gaza and the West Bank, and a full reopening of negotiations to create a Palestinian state.

In exchange, Mr. Olmert asked for the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit, the soldier whose abduction by Palestinian militants touched off the Middle East’s summer war and spelled the end of Israel’s plan to unilaterally withdraw from the West Bank. Mr. Olmert said that peace negotiations — the first in six years — would depend on success in Mr. Abbas’s effort to form a new Palestinian government that, unlike the present administration of the Islamic Hamas movement, would recognize Israel and renounce violence. But Mr. Olmert was clear about what those talks could lead to: “an independent and viable Palestinian state, with territorial contiguity” in Gaza and the West Bank. To create that state, he said, “Israel will agree to the evacuation of many territories and communities which were established therein.”

It’s Worth Reaching Out to Syria

By CALME American leader Martin Bresler, Vice Chair, Americans for Peace Now

The New York Times ran an editorial on November 15th entitled “The Road to Damascus” which rightly chides President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert for staying within their diplomatic comfort zones and continuing to balk at suggestions to reach out to Syria.  While such a move might be difficult to undertake, it would be well worth the expenditure of political capital if stronger ties with Syria were successful in exerting pressure on Iran and facilitating progress in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Olmert Reaches Out

In a major policy speech delivered on the anniversary of David Ben-Gurion’s death, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered wide-ranging concessions to the Palestinians on Monday in order to try and persuade them to return to the negotiating table and begin serious talks about building an independent Palestinian state.  In Olmert’s speech, given just one day after a ceasefire in Gaza went into effect, he promised near-term quality of life improvements, including a reduction of checkpoints, as well as a prisoner release.  He also promised to release frozen funds and, perhaps most critically, to evacuate many settlements and territories.

Olmert’s proposed concessions and concurrent offer to meet with Abbas were contingent upon several Palestinian actions, including formation of a government committed to the “roadmap” and other existing peace agreements, the safe release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, and a recognition of Israel’s right to exist. These terms appear to have generated an initially favorable reaction, according to Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who also stressed the need to maintain and expand the shaky Gaza ceasefire.

PM Olmert came and left… Now what?

Last Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met with President Bush to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the violence in Gaza, and the way forward for addressing Iran’s nuclear ambitions.  Although this meeting was an opportunity for real progress on these and other difficult issues, it failed to produce any significant indication of movement on the peace process or stemming the recent escalation of violence in Gaza.  This is despite the fact many asserted that the recent U.S. mid-term elections showed a determination among the U.S. public for new policies in the Middle East, including Israel.  In addition a recent poll highlighted by Brit Tzedek V’Shalom shows 2/3 of Israelis in support of negotiating with a Palestinian unity government. 

It is time for the Bush administration to engage fully on this issue.  In the past week alone, even as the violence in Gaza has increased, the Palestinians took steps towards formation of a unity government while Arab league foreign ministers met in an emergency session in Egypt to call for a new international peace conference to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

During their talks, President Bush and Prime Minister Olmert reaffirmed their shared commitment to the two-state solution, but there is still no actual movement toward that goal.  American commitment to the peace process will take more than statements of support.  It requires direct and sustained U.S. involvement.  CALME’s voice continues to be one that believes President Bush should seize this moment to vigorously pursue a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the fulfillment of two states.

New Diplomacy for the Middle East

New Diplomacy for the Middle East
By CALME Luminary Ambassador Marc Grossman

Before they have even been drafted, the possible recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker and former Congressman Hamilton, hang like a giant mirror over Washington.  The Administration, the Congress, the war’s critics and supporters, all see reflected back to them their ideas and policies about how to save Iraq and US interests in the region.  

The ISG will have important things to say about the future of Iraq.   Let us hope they will also connect what so urgently needs to be done in Iraq to a larger American strategy in the Middle East.  The Administration should dedicate 2007 to trying to solve simultaneously the three great challenges facing America in the region: making peace between Israelis and Palestinians, the need for Iraq to be a unified, peaceful country which can govern itself and the requirement to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. 

Meretz USA Weekly Update – Focus on Olmert/Bush Meeting and Iran

Meretz USA Weekly Update – November 17, 2006
Below is a summary of recent news items from Israel and the Middle East

Focus on: Olmert/Bush Meeting and Iran

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s meeting with President Bush, which occurred on Monday, made the headlines because of his pronouncement that the Iraq War had brought stability to the Middle East and had contributed positively to Israel’s strategic position in the region.  Other than that, it was reviewed as having accomplished nothing more than reaffirming the status quo. 

Nevertheless, with its focus on the Iranian nuclear threat, the discussion marked a change for Israel’s Prime Minister.  Ha’aretz’s Aluf Benn pointed out that, in the past, Olmert has avoided high-profile attacks on Iran, leaving that job to far-right Israelis.  But recently, he has been playing up the threat. 

Important Words from an Israeli Seeking a Better Future

Acclaimed Israeli author David Grossman took the stage at the annual tribute to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv last month, and delivered a remarkable speech on the current situation in the region, and the need for the Israeli government to take more action to bring about a peaceful resolution.  Grossman has a particularly poignant perspective on the issue, as his 20 year-old son Uri was killed during operations in Lebanon last summer.

He says, “Every thinking person in Israel—and, I will add, in Palestine as well—knows today precisely the outline of a possible solution to the conflict between the two peoples. All thinking people, in Israel and in Palestine, know deep in their hearts the difference between, on the one hand, their dreams and wishes, and on the other, what they can get at the end of the negotiations. Those who don’t know that, whether Jews or Arabs, are already not part of the dialogue. Such people are trapped in their hermetic fanaticism, so they are not partners…

“Appeal to the Palestinians, Mr. Olmert. Appeal to them over Hamas’s head. Appeal to the moderates among them, to those who, like you and me, oppose Hamas and its ideology. Appeal to the Palestinian people. Speak to their deepest wound, acknowledge their unending suffering…Make them an offer that their moderates can accept (there are far more of them than the media shows us). Make them an offer, so that they will have to decide whether to accept it, or instead remain hostages to fanatical Islam. Go to them with the boldest, most serious plan that Israel is able to put forward. A plan that all Israelis and Palestinians with eyes in their heads will know is the limit of refusal and concession, ours and theirs.”

The full text of his speech may be found after the break.

Send the Baker Commission to Gaza

By Daniel Levy 
This piece was originally published in the December 2006 edition of The Atlantic Monthly.
  
Democrats made huge gains this election, largely because voters rejected the administration’s policy in Iraq. But even before the electorate took its frustration over the war out on the president’s party, Congress recognized the need for a new direction. In March, House Republicans—led by Rep. Frank Wolf (R-Va.) and supported by such senior GOP figures as Sen. John Warner (R-Va.)—asked James Baker and Lee Hamilton to form the Iraq Study Group. The group, which is expected to offer policy recommendations within the next few weeks, was widely understood to offer the White House an opportunity to chart a new course in Iraq without having to admit its previous policies were wrong.

So far, so good. But the much-neglected Israeli-Arab conflict—in particular the Israel-Palestine conflict—is as central to Middle East stability as the Iraq war is. The United States can’t truly address the latter without taking on the former, too. A regional policy makeover that fails to make these connections is unlikely to create the tipping point that will move the Middle East from extremism towards moderation. 

UK Foreign Secretary Speaks out on Next Steps in the Region

This October, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett wrote a piece for Gulf News highlighting UK involvement in, and commitment to, finding a lasting two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli crisis. This commitment includes her trip to New York this August to push for urgent UN action in response to this summer’s violence in Lebanon. 

She rightly points out that “Progress towards a just and comprehensive peace represents the key to tackling so many of the complex challenges facing the whole Middle East,” and she advocates a “negotiated settlement” between Israelis and Palestinians toward that end.  She is also correct in her assessment that ongoing violence and the concurrent lack of progress only serve to exacerbate hostilities between the parties involved.

CALME Pages the White House – Olmert Visit is Opportunity for Real Dialogue

On Friday, November 10th, CALME Co-Chairs Joel Tauber and George Salem sent the following letter to the President in anticipation of Prime Minister Olmert’s visit to Washington next week.

November 10, 2006 

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC  20500

Dear Mr. President,

Despite recent setbacks in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process such as the violence this summer between Israel and Hezbollah and the struggle to build a Palestinian unity government, we were heartened to hear you reiterate your bold vision of a two-state solution during your speech to the United Nations General Assembly this September.  Indeed, recent challenges only serve to highlight the need for robust U.S. engagement on this issue.  The Campaign for American Leadership in the Middle East.

(CALME) is a strong supporter of this vision and we continue to support your efforts to make this a reality.  CALME is supported by over 250 American leaders and thousands of Americans in all fifty states.

In your upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Olmert on Monday, November 13th, we urge you to follow-up your comments before the UNGA, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s speech to the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP), by recommitting your administration to finding ways to bring your vision to fruition.  Two states are not only necessary for a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people, but even working toward this outcome is critical to the challenges we face in both Iraq and Iran and throughout the Middle East.

We know that you will continue to push for a two-state solution that will allow Israelis and Palestinians to live alongside each other in peace and security.  You have the strong support of CALME as you actively work towards achieving this important goal. 
Sincerely,
 

Joel Tauber & George Salem
Co-Chairs
The Campaign for American Leadership in the Middle East