		Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 28 May - 3 June 1998 Issue No.379
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Current issue \| Previous issue \| Site map

Building a consensus

When Egypt and France proposed an international conference to save the moribund Middle East peace process, they almost certainly knew that Israel would reject it. Sure enough, the Israeli cabinet turned it down three days later. Binyamin Netanyahu's record speaks for itself. Since taking office in June 1996, he has done everything in his power to strangle the peace process -- from building new settlements to breaching the Oslo Accords and rejecting a compromise proposal from his US friends for a 13 per cent troop withdrawal from the West Bank. Having cold-shouldered his top ally, Netanyahu can hardly be accommodating to Hosni Mubarak and Jacques Chirac, who have been openly critical of his intransigence.

The likelihood of Israel's not attending the proposed international conference was probably the reason why France and Egypt suggested a two-stage meeting. The first part would bring together all countries "determined" to save Middle East peace, excluding the parties directly involved. The latter would be invited to the second phase. The Israeli stand makes it almost a foregone conclusion that only the first half of the conference will ever materialise. This would still serve the major aim behind the conference proposal, however: to build an international consensus as a pressure instrument against Israel.

The US so far has been reticent on the proposed conference. But there is a possibility that Washington will participate or, at least, signal approval if Netanyahu persists in rejecting US peace proposals. The French Foreign Ministry spokesman has said that the conference could help Washington convince Israel to accept the proposals.

Washington's noncommittal attitude has Israel worried. Some Israeli newspaper analysts have interpreted it as a warning to Israel that, given Netanyahu's systematically rejectionist stand, he should not look to the United States to come to the rescue in a sticky situation.

More importantly, however, this attitude may indicate that the US is backing out of the peace process in general. The Arabs should plan accordingly.