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Israeli-Palestinian
Leaders Enter Peace Talks |
Posted:
02.07.05
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The Prime Minister of Israel will meet with his Palestinian counterpart
Tuesday for the first time since the Palestinian uprising -- known
as the intifada -- began four years ago.
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Both sides have said they hoped the meeting would mean a halt
to violence that has killed thousands and revive the U.S.-backed
"road map" for a Palestinian state alongside a secure
Israel.
 Officials
indicated that newly elected Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
may announce a long-term cease-fire with the Israelis, and that
Israel may reciprocate by releasing some prisoners and agreeing
not to hunt wanted Palestinian militants.
Israel recently announced a pullback of its military forces from
Bethlehem, Jericho, Ramallah and other population centers in the
West Bank and has promised the United States that it will lift
checkpoints and roadblocks that have hampered the ability of Palestinians
to work and go to school.
In Gaza, where violence has dropped sharply, a spokesman for
the militant Hamas group said it would "study the outcome
of the summit" in Egypt and then decide on its course of
action.
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Renewed U.S.
involvement |
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Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed that "a time
of optimism" had arrived in the Middle East. She called on
Israel to make "hard decisions" in negotiations with
Palestinian leaders as they wage their own fight against militants.
"We will have to, all of us, make certain that there is
an effective fight against terrorism, because security and terrorism
are at the core of peaceful existence," Rice said after meeting
with Israeli leaders.
Rice's visit marks a new level of involvement in the conflict
between the Israelis and Palestinians. The United States has played
an on-and-off role as "monitor" to coordinate peace
talks since the late 1990s, and President Clinton held several
high-profile peace summits. However, when President Bush was elected
in 2000, he refused to negotiate with Palestinian President Yasser
Arafat, who died in November.
 Mahmoud
Abbas won the presidential election in January -- the first in
nine years.
Rice announced that the Israeli and Palestinian leaders had accepted
invitations by President Bush to attend separate meetings in the
United States next spring. She also named a U.S. general, William
Ward, to act as security coordinator for the Palestinians. Ward
helped train security forces in post-war Bosnia.
"There should be no doubt about the commitment of the United
States to this process at this time -- no doubt about the commitment
of the president, no doubt about my personal commitment,"
Rice said at Abbas' headquarters.
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Tough disagreements
to overcome |
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Rice said Israel is aware of U.S. concerns over its controversial
West Bank barrier, which Palestinians call a land grab and Israeli
leaders say hinders suicide bombers.
But she praised Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip
this summer as "historic and monumental."
 Palestinians
have welcomed any withdrawal from occupied territory but cite
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's vow to hold on to large
West Bank settlements in any future peace deal.
On her way to the Palestinian presidential building, where Arafat
was confined for nearly three years, Rice's motorcade swept past
his tomb without stopping, a symbolic action indicative of Washington's
view that the former president was an obstacle to peace.
Now that new leadership is in place, President Bush has pledged
$350 million in aid to the Palestinians build schools, hospitals
and security facilities.
--Compiled
by Leah Clapman for NewsHour Extra
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