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Stalled Arab Peace Initiative Reaffirmed

(Washington Institute for Near East Policy) David Makovsky - A few steps can be taken to make the Arab Peace Initiative (API) more effective. 1) Sequencing: For the initiative to work, Israel and the Arab world must each take steps in response to the other, in parallel. 2) Creating more clarity and flexibility in the API's terms. Given the chaos in Syria, it is hard to believe any Arab leader would expect Israel to withdraw from the Golan - at least not now. 3) A hopeful passage of the API says that if its terms are fulfilled, Arab League states would "consider the Arab-Israeli conflict ended, and enter into a peace agreement with Israel, and provide security for all the states of the region." It is legitimate to ask Arab states - even those who already have peace agreements with Israel - to discuss with Israel now how it views "security for all states in the region" in the event that Israel accepts the API. A shifting regional environment will not make it easy for Kerry to engage the Arabs, given their other priorities. In principle, Kerry is correct in assessing that the political cover of Arab states could be helpful to Israelis and Palestinians. For the API to be a catalyst for action, however, it needs a different approach than has been tried before now: a more direct approach with Israel. The writer is director of The Washington Institute's Project on the Middle East Peace Process.
2013-05-03 00:00:00
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