Continued outbreaks of violence in Israel have threatened to undermine the tenuous peace efforts in the Middle East. Stephen Walt, Robert and Renee Belfer Professor of International Politics and Chair of the International Security Program, assessed the situation in a discussion with Doug Gavel in April. He noted that the situation holds potentially serious implications for President Bush''s larger foreign policy goals.
Q: Secretary of State Colin Powell and U.S. envoy Anthony Zinni have tried several times to jumpstart peace talks in the region. Why did their efforts fail?
Walt: Powell and Zinni failed because their efforts focused on establishing a cease-fire rather than on finding a political solution to the conflict. The Sharon government in Israel was willing to cooperate with Zinni because it wanted a cease-fire, but Sharon ignored U.S. demands for an immediate withdrawal from the Palestinian territories. More importantly, the Sharon government remains adamantly opposed to the creation of a viable Palestinian state on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip. Indeed, Sharon and his political allies worked hard over the past decade to undermine the Oslo peace process, in order to maintain Israeli control over the occupied territories.
The Palestinians, on the other hand, have reached the point where many would rather die than live under continued Israeli domination. Thus, they have no interest in a ceasefire unless it is linked to the creation of a viable state. The Bush Administration has been unwilling to help the Palestinians achieve that goal, however, because it does not want to incur the wrath of Israel and its supporters in the United States. So it has limited its efforts to pursuing a cease-fire, which the Palestinians have little or no incentive to accept.
Q: How can the U.S. convince the warring parties to return to the negotiating table?
Walt: The U.S. must commit itself to reaching a just and final settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it must be willing to use its leverage on both sides to compel an agreement. Israel must be given a vision for the future in which the pre-1967 territory of Israel is secure, and the Palestinians must be able to look ahead to a viable state on virtually all the Palestinian territory occupied by Israel in the 1967 war. The Bush administration will have to find the political courage to engage fully in this effort, instead of simply sending envoys and merely seeking a cease-fire that preserves the status quo.
Q: How important is stability in the Middle East to U.S. efforts in battling terrorism in the region and across the globe?
Walt: Very important. In the eyes of most of the world, the U.S. is actively aiding unjust repression of the Palestinian Arabs. So long as that perception endures, the U.S. will be at odds with most of its allies, estranged from the Arab and Islamic worlds, and threatened by violent extremists. Achieving a just and stable peace between Israel and the Palestinians will not eliminate all sources of Mideast terrorism, but it would be a very important step forward. And by removing the main motive for terrorist violence in Israel, a just peace would make Israel much more secure as well.