Washington Pushes Israel And Palestinians to Negotiate
US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to jump start negotiations for a final status agreement instead of a more feasible interim agreement might prove dangerous should he fail.
The peace conference convened in Camp David in July 2000, almost 13 years ago, was intended to bring the long-awaited end to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak was the major initiator and instigator of this event, which was practically forced on late PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Then-US President Bill Clinton wasn’t too enthusiastic about it either, but he could not resist the passionate persuasiveness of indomitable Ehud Barak.
Just let me get into the same room as Arafat, and everything will work out, he said, while crassly ignoring a long list of warnings that he had received well in advance: The Palestinians are not ready yet, the Arab world isn’t involved, the Arab League isn’t backing the effort, President Mubarak’s Egypt isn’t applying any pressure, a step like this must be prepared with the greatest of care and planned cautiously to account for the most extreme scenarios in case the conference blows up (i.e., a fallback position). The list goes on.
But Barak stuck to his guns. He wanted Camp David. The photograph taken at the start of the conference is memorable. It shows Barak and Arafat squabbling at the door over who will forever bear the mark of Cain by going in first. Arafat tells Barak to be the first to go in, and Barak tells Arafat the same thing. They actually start to get physical, but then Barak simply pushes Arafat inside, and the two of them disappear into the dark. Cut.
