Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The Obama administration’s effort to end the Middle East conflict has suffered a setback, the Arab League said at the United Nations after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton assured Egyptian leaders of the U.S. commitment.
“He is a good man and his intentions are good, but we are back to square one,” Arab League Ambassador Yahya Mahmassani said of President Barack Obama’s bid during his first year in office to make headway toward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and a state for Palestinians. “His words have not led to actions so far.”
Clinton returned from five days of crisscrossing the region yesterday, after adding a stop in Cairo to try to ease Arab anger over her statements Oct. 31 in Jerusalem. She came under fire for hailing as “unprecedented” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to restrict, rather than halt, settlement construction in the West Bank.
The outcry from Arab governments overshadowed Clinton’s Mideast tour and came as Arabs pressed at the UN for prosecution of Israeli officials for alleged war crimes during the December- January offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel has said it won’t resume peace talks while facing possible war-crimes charges.
For three days starting at a meeting of Arab leaders in Morocco Nov. 2, Clinton insisted that U.S. policy on Israeli settlements hasn’t changed.
“We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity,” she said in Cairo.
Talks in Egypt
Clinton and her Mideast advisers were upbeat yesterday about the reception they got from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who wields influence with both Israel and the Palestinians, for U.S. calls for a swift return to negotiations for a two-state solution. U.S. officials billed it as a comeback, just days after Clinton was battered for a perceived softening of American opposition to Israeli settlements.
“You heard an Egyptian statement of policy which has moved a lot closer to our position about wanting to focus on the endgame than what you might have heard from Arab leaders a week ago,” said Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state, who handles the Middle East.
There is a lack of “clarity” in Clinton’s statements on the issue, according to Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel.
“There were various statements made by Hillary, almost comically, being generous to Netanyahu in Jerusalem, then quickly trying to backtrack when speaking in an Arab context,” Spyer said in an interview. “This phase of Obama Middle East policy is over and what comes next we don’t yet know.”
Back to Talks
Clinton’s trip was intended to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority back into broad talks on forming a Palestinian state. Negotiations broke down in December when Israel began a military operation in the Gaza Strip to stop the firing of rockets on Israeli communities by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S.
“What we should focus on is the endgame, the end of the road, and not waste time in holding onto this issue or that issue as a starting point before negotiations,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said at a joint press conference with Clinton, according to an unofficial translation.
Aboul Gheit said he and Mubarak were convinced after their talks with Clinton yesterday that the U.S. hasn’t changed its position that Israel should freeze the building of Jewish settlements. The Palestinians say the development of Israeli communities in the West Bank is an obstacle to creating a state on the territory and are demanding a total settlement freeze as a precursor to renewing peace talks.
Upbeat Note
Clinton sounded an upbeat note as she ended her trip, which included a three-day visit in Pakistan and a stop in Israel.
“I carry with me a personal conviction that nothing can be allowed to interfere with our determination and our resolve and our conviction,” she told a news conference in Cairo.
American officials said the gap between Israel and the Palestinians is requiring considerable energy to keep the diplomatic effort alive.
“There is no reason to have any positive feelings about what is going to happen,” Hani Sabra, Mideast analyst for the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political-risk analysis firm, said in an interview. “The Clinton trip was a failure. It is time to step back for now. Nothing is going to happen in the next few months.”
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, negotiator Saeb Erakat said Palestinians are facing a “moment of truth” and may give up on peace talks if Israel doesn’t stop building housing.
“Israel has a choice: settlements or peace,” Erakat said.
No Preconditions
The Israeli government has called for the immediate resumption of negotiations and without preconditions. “We have already wasted more than half a year because of preconditions the Palestinians put on the talks and we think it’s a mistake,” Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said in a phone interview.
Clinton said the settlement dispute may not be resolved until talks start on the core issues of the conflict.
“What we’re looking at here is recognition that getting into final-status issues will allow us to bring an end to settlement activity,” she said.
Those major issues include borders and the status of Jerusalem, where Palestinians want to put their capital.
Last May, Clinton said only a construction halt in the West Bank would be acceptable. In September, after meeting Abbas and Netanyahu at the UN, Obama referred only to a “restraint” on settlements.
“Netanyahu won this round,” Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, said in an interview. “Clinton is now asking the Palestinians to go back to the negotiating table without freezing settlements. There are deep contradictions in her position.”
“He is a good man and his intentions are good, but we are back to square one,” Arab League Ambassador Yahya Mahmassani said of President Barack Obama’s bid during his first year in office to make headway toward Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and a state for Palestinians. “His words have not led to actions so far.”
Clinton returned from five days of crisscrossing the region yesterday, after adding a stop in Cairo to try to ease Arab anger over her statements Oct. 31 in Jerusalem. She came under fire for hailing as “unprecedented” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s proposal to restrict, rather than halt, settlement construction in the West Bank.
The outcry from Arab governments overshadowed Clinton’s Mideast tour and came as Arabs pressed at the UN for prosecution of Israeli officials for alleged war crimes during the December- January offensive in the Gaza Strip. Israel has said it won’t resume peace talks while facing possible war-crimes charges.
For three days starting at a meeting of Arab leaders in Morocco Nov. 2, Clinton insisted that U.S. policy on Israeli settlements hasn’t changed.
“We do not accept the legitimacy of settlement activity,” she said in Cairo.
Talks in Egypt
Clinton and her Mideast advisers were upbeat yesterday about the reception they got from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who wields influence with both Israel and the Palestinians, for U.S. calls for a swift return to negotiations for a two-state solution. U.S. officials billed it as a comeback, just days after Clinton was battered for a perceived softening of American opposition to Israeli settlements.
“You heard an Egyptian statement of policy which has moved a lot closer to our position about wanting to focus on the endgame than what you might have heard from Arab leaders a week ago,” said Jeffrey Feltman, the assistant secretary of state, who handles the Middle East.
There is a lack of “clarity” in Clinton’s statements on the issue, according to Jonathan Spyer, a political scientist at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya in Israel.
“There were various statements made by Hillary, almost comically, being generous to Netanyahu in Jerusalem, then quickly trying to backtrack when speaking in an Arab context,” Spyer said in an interview. “This phase of Obama Middle East policy is over and what comes next we don’t yet know.”
Back to Talks
Clinton’s trip was intended to get Israel and the Palestinian Authority back into broad talks on forming a Palestinian state. Negotiations broke down in December when Israel began a military operation in the Gaza Strip to stop the firing of rockets on Israeli communities by Hamas, designated a terrorist group by the U.S.
“What we should focus on is the endgame, the end of the road, and not waste time in holding onto this issue or that issue as a starting point before negotiations,” Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said at a joint press conference with Clinton, according to an unofficial translation.
Aboul Gheit said he and Mubarak were convinced after their talks with Clinton yesterday that the U.S. hasn’t changed its position that Israel should freeze the building of Jewish settlements. The Palestinians say the development of Israeli communities in the West Bank is an obstacle to creating a state on the territory and are demanding a total settlement freeze as a precursor to renewing peace talks.
Upbeat Note
Clinton sounded an upbeat note as she ended her trip, which included a three-day visit in Pakistan and a stop in Israel.
“I carry with me a personal conviction that nothing can be allowed to interfere with our determination and our resolve and our conviction,” she told a news conference in Cairo.
American officials said the gap between Israel and the Palestinians is requiring considerable energy to keep the diplomatic effort alive.
“There is no reason to have any positive feelings about what is going to happen,” Hani Sabra, Mideast analyst for the Eurasia Group, a New York-based political-risk analysis firm, said in an interview. “The Clinton trip was a failure. It is time to step back for now. Nothing is going to happen in the next few months.”
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, negotiator Saeb Erakat said Palestinians are facing a “moment of truth” and may give up on peace talks if Israel doesn’t stop building housing.
“Israel has a choice: settlements or peace,” Erakat said.
No Preconditions
The Israeli government has called for the immediate resumption of negotiations and without preconditions. “We have already wasted more than half a year because of preconditions the Palestinians put on the talks and we think it’s a mistake,” Mark Regev, a spokesman for Netanyahu, said in a phone interview.
Clinton said the settlement dispute may not be resolved until talks start on the core issues of the conflict.
“What we’re looking at here is recognition that getting into final-status issues will allow us to bring an end to settlement activity,” she said.
Those major issues include borders and the status of Jerusalem, where Palestinians want to put their capital.
Last May, Clinton said only a construction halt in the West Bank would be acceptable. In September, after meeting Abbas and Netanyahu at the UN, Obama referred only to a “restraint” on settlements.
“Netanyahu won this round,” Mkhaimar Abusada, a political scientist at Al-Azhar University in Gaza, said in an interview. “Clinton is now asking the Palestinians to go back to the negotiating table without freezing settlements. There are deep contradictions in her position.”
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