/ 27 February 2007

Recognition roundabout

The meeting this week in Jerusalem between Condoleezza Rice, Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas was the first such three-way encounter since 2003. That might suggest that the prospect of serious negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians has somewhat improved. But it was also a classic example of the futile circling around the issue of formal recognition of Israel that has inhibited any real movement in this damaged and stalled relationship ever since the emergence of Hamas as a major political force.

The recent agreement between Hamas and Fatah opened the way for a government of national unity in the Palestinian territories, ending months of violent confrontations between the two movements. That unified leadership could now, in theory, begin talks with the Israelis. However, the words on the status of Israel to which Hamas assented in Mecca — that it respects existing agreements with Israel — go no further than previous formulations. Hamas has moved as far as can be expected, pushing the issue of Israel’s right to exist into the future. But Israel and the United States insist on an explicit recognition of Israel and a permanent renunciation of violence.

These, they know full well, will not be forthcoming. Whether this insistence is a matter of principle, a consequence of the limits of what is politically possible in Israel and the US, or a means of avoiding negotiations, the result is the same. The only talks possible are between Israel and Fatah, or the Palestinian president, alone, and they are of limited value. There is, it is true, now the possibility of some restoration of the funding whose suspension has caused much suffering. That is to be welcomed.

Rice, meanwhile, has achieved what she presumably wanted — the appearance of diplomatic movement. The Palestinians are still divided. The Israeli government is weak and bereft of any coherent strategy for the future, and the Bush administration is a prisoner of its own ideological positions on terrorism.

When all sides agree to a creative fudge, which will allow this obstacle to be bypassed, then, and only then, will we know that they are serious. — Â