Shifting politics bring Arabs and Israelis closer

The possibility that Israel and Saudi Arabia may sit at the negotiating table together distinguishes this new chapter in peacemaking efforts from the failures of the past.

from the August 3, 2007 edition

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The desire to make more space at the table is an about-face from the approach Israel used to take. When the US brought parties from around the Middle East to an impossibly long table in the first multilateral peace talks in Madrid in 1991, Israel's government went reluctantly and without plans to make progress, former premier Yitzhak Shamir later acknowledged, because of Israel's concerns of being "ganged up on" in international forums. Real peace agreements could only be worked out one-on-one, the Israeli conventional wisdom held, and not while facing a whole table full of foes.

And during the most recent round of final status negotiations, which broke down in the summer of 2000, Israeli negotiators felt that the role of other Arab states involved – namely Egypt – was encouraging Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to take a hard-line position and be unwilling to compromise, says Mr. Heller.

Much has happened since then. The 9/11 attacks, the war in Iraq, the ascendancy of Hamas and Iran's drive to join the nuclear club have all had an impact on how Israel views Western-friendly Arab states, and vice versa.

"Now, there's a convergence of interests of Israel and some Arab states, in comparison to 2000 or 1991. You've got Iran looming in the background and that brings interest together. There's a feeling here that if you bring more Arab countries around and they sit in and shake hands, there might be a payoff for Israeli leadership. I'm not sure if Arab states see this the same way."

Indeed, there is concern in the Arab world that Israel is trying to put the proverbial cart before the horse, by working to gain assurances from the Saudis before taking the plunge toward a two-state solution.

"And nowadays, Israel accepts the idea of negotiating peace with all Arabs, but I think they want the recognition and normalization without paying for it," says Tariq Masarweh, a political commentator in Jordan, which made peace with Israel in 1994.

Yitzhak Reiter, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, worries that Israel is trying to leapfrog to the next step by having the Saudis join the summit in the fall without first accepting what's in the initiative as it stands. For example, Israel does not want to agree to the initiative's call to withdraw from territories it occupied in 1967.

"I think the Israeli position right now is a maneuver to bypass the Arab Initiative," says Reiter, because Olmert says Israel will not enter into talks with preconditions.

"Olmert is generally looking to start negotiations for a final agreement. But if he tries to bring in the Saudis regardless of their text of the Arab Peace initiative, I'm not sure it will be fruitful."

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