19-MAY-1993
PEACE TALKS: SUMMARY OF PROGRESS - APRIL-MAY 93 SESSION
SUMMARY OF PROGRESS
The latest session of Arab-Israeli bilateral peace negotiations took
place in Washington between April 27 and May 13, 1993.
Separate talks were held between Israeli delegations and delegations
from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinians. The negotiations with
the three Arab states focused on efforts to achieve peace agreements
while talks with the Palestinians are aimed at achieving an agreement on
a five year period of interim self-government arrangements. Negotiations
on the permanent status to follow are to commence during the third year
of self-government.
Overall, Israel finishes this session of talks with mixed feelings.
Alongside frustration for not being able to show significant results,
such as a joint document with the Palestinians, there is some
satisfaction for the modest progress which was nevertheless achieved.
The following is a brief summary of the session for each track of
negotiations.
Jordan: Talks this session focused on the establishment of negotiating
groups to deal with the various issues on the common working agenda,
representing components of the future peace agreement. Three official
working groups were established to deal with baskets of related issues
one for economic issues, one for natural resources (water, energy and
environment), and one for security and border issues. Israel, however,
is still waiting for final approval of the agenda.
Palestinians: Prior to and during this session, Israel took a number of
confidence building steps in order to facilitate the negotiations. These
included approving the return of 30 Palestinians expelled in the past,
and showing flexibility regarding the participation of Faisal Husseini
and Palestinian experts from outside the territories in the
negotiations. The talks, however, produced mixed results. More could
have been achieved, and Israel's hope of arriving at a joint declaration
of principles or a joint statement was not realized. Such a document
could have communicated a clear message of progress, especially to the
Palestinian population which has been exposed mostly to gloomy
assessments of the talks. Nevertheless, some progress was made three
formal working groups were established and substantive negotiations were
held. Unfortunately, before full engagement was achieved, the
Palestinians chose to suspend the work in committees and reduce their
delegation, for reasons which were unrelated to the negotiations
themselves.
Syria: Here too, the results are mixed. On the positive side, three
encouraging developments took place in this session. First, negotiations
with the Syrians resumed much from the same point at which they were
interrupted five months ago, despite the long lack of contact between
the sides. Second, in this session Israel and Syria agreed on the
identification of peace, security and withdrawal as the core issues
which must be addressed. Third, significant statements by both sides
lent support to the peace-making in the important realm of public
diplomacy. In an unprecedented interview released during the last week
of talks, Syrian President Assad commented positively and in detail on
the peace process. Israel's Prime Minister Rabin also made public
statements on the talks with Syria, which were carefully worded in a way
unoffensive to Syrian sensitivities.
Unfortunately, however, the gap between the sides on the core issues
still exists. Syria remains adamant that Israel commit itself to full
withdrawal before it gives details on the nature of peace it is willing
to offer in return. It has simplified this policy with the catch-phrase:
'Full peace for full withdrawal'. Israel, on her part, has accepted
withdrawal as an element in the peace-making, yet has stated that the
extent of the withdrawal cannot be addressed until Syria elaborates upon
what is meant by the term 'full peace'. Israel feels that the peace
should include genuine normalization and reconciliation, while Syria
fails to indicate whether it is willing to go beyond simple
non-belligerancy.
Lebanon: In order to advance the peace negotiations with Lebanon, at the
start of this session Israel presented the Lebanese with an innovative
proposal to establish a joint military working group within a balanced
political framework. Such a group would address the acute security
problems on the their mutual border, as part of the negotiations. The
Lebanese response, however, was less than encouraging. They presented a
declarative document, which offers no solution for Israeli concerns and
makes progress difficult. These difficulties notwithstanding, Israel is
determined to make every effort to achieve a breakthrough, and has
undertaken a study of the document in the hope of finding a way to
enable some progress.
Israel hopes to renew negotiations as soon as possible, and has
suggested that talks reconvene in early June. We do not view the present
break as the end of a 'round', but rather as a short recess in a
continuous negotiating process. We hope that our Arab counterparts will
return to the talks as a matter of course, thus avoiding the need to
fruitlessly 'negotiate the negotiations' as has been done in the past.
These peace negotations are the only logical option available to resolve
the conflict between the Arabs and Israel, and they carry with them the
promise of creating a new reality for this ancient region.