The Hindu : A push for peace in West Asia?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Apr 29, 2002

Opinion

Opinion - Editorials

A push for peace in West Asia?

THE `UNIQUE RELATIONSHIP' between the United States and Israel is the latest diplomatic card that the U.S. President, George W. Bush, seems willing to play in a stated effort to end the ongoing war involving the Jewish state and the Palestinians. It is on the basis of the special bond between Washington and the Jerusalem establishment that Mr. Bush has at long last called upon Israel to quit from the Palestinian areas, which it invaded as part of a proclaimed anti-terror operation of unprecedented proportions that began almost a month ago. Invoking an enduring truism of America's foreign policy as reflected in Washington's reliability as an abiding friend of Israel, Mr. Bush has underlined a specific demand. He wants Israel to end its latest wave of military incursions into towns and other places that fall within the political jurisdiction of the Palestinian Authority under current international law. More importantly, he has called upon Israel to do so "now". Aware that Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, had largely ignored the earlier American calls for military withdrawals "without delay", Mr. Bush is satisfied that the Jerusalem establishment has certainly "heard" him at this point. It is not without enormous significance that the U.S. President is now trying his hand at diplomacy in West Asia after holding talks with Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Abdullah, who is also the kingdom's virtual ruler at this juncture.

There is no doubt whatsoever about America's willingness to protect Israel in the face of any challenge to its existence as a strong and sovereign state in the midst of its Arab neighbours. However, there is a particular purpose behind Mr. Bush's emphatic assertion at this time that the U.S. will not allow the Jewish state to be crushed. By reassuring Israel of the American resolve of such magnitude, he wants to goad Mr. Sharon to vacate the Palestinian areas with a sense of confidence that there won't be any catastrophic backlash from the Arabs as a result. The U.S. has at the same time called upon the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, to ensure that the anti-Jewish terrorist activities such as suicide-bombings, which the Arabs portray as sacrificial acts of martyrs, are called off completely. On the whole, however, Mr. Bush seems to be counting on Saudi Arabia and others of its line of thinking in West Asia to exert pressure on Mr. Arafat. The U.S. President knows that there are limits beyond which the rulers of several key Arab states might not wish to antagonise Washington at this delicate moment in the global "campaign" against the politics of terror. The bargain that the U.S. seems to be pressing for is that it will seek to rein in a militarist Israel if only the major Arab powers could control the Palestinian violence of a radicalised kind.

In a political sense, Saudi Arabia appears willing to play such diplomatic chess with the U.S. This explains the latest reports of indications from the Saudi side that it might not be eager to turn its influence within the international oil market against America's interests in a blatant attempt to drive a wedge between the U.S. and Israel. Not only that. Crown Prince Abdullah appears to have supplemented his earlier initiative for peace. He now wants some specific steps to be taken by Israel for an immediate de-escalation of its latest military operations so that the earlier Saudi plan could be negotiated. The plan consists of a quid pro quo — the vacation of all Arab territories by Israel and a parallel recognition by all Arab states of the right of the Jewish state to exist within defined and defendable borders. The overall Saudi objective remains the same as before — the creation of a viable Palestinian state. With Mr. Bush seeking now to intervene as an agent of peace, hopes may be rekindled again.

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