When is enough enough?

By Nevien Khalil

At Sunday's meeting with Mubarak, Arafat reiterated his "enough is enough" line, referring to the Palestinians' unwillingness to make further concessions. Egyptian officials were quick to point out, however, that Arafat's choice of words should not be taken as a call for violence or another Intifada.

In a newspaper interview the following day, Mubarak said that Arafat was waiting for the outcome of the so-far ineffective US initiative, which began nearly three months ago. "The peace process is in a feeble state," Mubarak told Mayo newspaper, "now that the Palestinian side has given all it can. Israel has remained frozen in a hard-line position." Mubarak also warned that violence might erupt if the peace process collapsed.

Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said the Israelis were "trying to water-down and play with the content of the US initiative." "Only the first version is the acceptable one," Moussa emphasised. "Any other versions are open to vigorous debate."

The US proposed a three-stage Israeli handover of 13.1 per cent of West Bank territory to the Palestinians over three months, linked to a security clampdown on militants by the Palestinian Authority. The Palestinians have accepted the proposal, but insist that Israel should implement a third troop redeployment, as stated in the Oslo peace agreements, before final-status talks begin. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said earlier this week that he might agree to the US proposal on the second redeployment if the scope of the total area Israel must vacate is made clear to him.

"The US initiative will mark the end of a negotiating phase. Then there will be a number of alternatives for political action," said El-Baz. These would take into consideration the outcome of the US initiative, and include the possibilities of organising an Arab summit or an international peace conference.

Last week, Mubarak expressed hope that Netanyahu would change his ways, "because what is happening will not achieve security for Israeli citizens but instead will work against them in the future."

During a 90-minute meeting on Monday, El-Baz quoted Barak as telling Mubarak that he hoped that the peace process moves ahead, promising that the Israeli Labour Party "will adopt policies which can help the peace process on the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese tracks." Barak also informed the president that the Labour Party supports an early decision on the second redeployment, and the immediate launching of permanent status negotiations. An enthusiastic Barak told reporters later that he "listened very carefully" to Mubarak's views on the situation in the peace process.

In his statement to the press and media, Barak advised Netanyahu to "go immediately to Washington, strike a deal on the second redeployment and move forward to permanent status negotiations." He said that the majority of Israelis want the peace process "to gain a new momentum rather than be derailed and deteriorate. Negotiating bona fide with the Palestinians was the only way to reach a permanent status agreement."

Barak described the US proposal as "basically a good idea", but at the same time warned Washington against putting pressure on Israel to accept the initiative. "Under no circumstances will we allow any pressure on Israel," emphasised Barak, suggesting that instead the US administration should, in the case of a breakdown in the process, explain publically "how the situation deteriorated".

The Labour leader quashed speculation that his party would join a coalition with Likud in the near future. The Labour Party, he said, "is working on having early elections", instead of those slated for the year 2000, to remove Netanyahu from office.

Meanwhile, Arab officials continue to state that adequate preparations must be made before an Arab summit can be organised. "For an Arab summit to be held, there must be sufficient and well-prepared reasons," said Mubarak last week. "A draft of the summit's outcome should be prepared beforehand, so that its resolutions would carry weight and be effective." He continued that ongoing consultations with the Palestinians will crystalise "what they require from an Arab summit. When the [Palestinian] position is clear, we can evaluate the situation."

According to El-Baz, Saudi Arabia and Syria are willing to take part in a summit, but again want a "clear-cut concept of the outcome". "We're not going to hold a summit just for the sake of it," El-Baz emphasised, adding that Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel, will not be asked to freeze relations with Israel.

Another option is the proposal made by Mubarak and French President Jacques Chirac for an international conference to save the stalled peace process. Mubarak declared that the proposal would remain on hold until the Americans give their final word on the success or failure of their initiative. According to El-Baz, the US did not object to the Cairo-Paris proposal, but "only requested that we coordinate with them on this issue, because they are an active player with a proposal."

Diplomats do not believe that the Arab and international gatherings would be in conflict. "It doesn't matter which one takes place first; what is important is that there is continued activity," noted El-Baz. "There is no conflict between the two meetings."

Foreign Minister Moussa said there is a dire need for the US to go public with the current status of its initiative "since transparency is necessary in this situation. Everyone is upset because of what is happening." Borrowing Arafat's words, Moussa asserted that "enough is enough". El-Baz said the Palestinians "have gone the extra mile; what remains is for Israel to make a move."

Moussa described Netanyahu's proposal to hold a referendum on the second redeployment as a manoeuvre to "procrastinate and waste time", opening the door to similar referendums on regional issues in the future. "None of the documents and discussions relating to the peace process on all tracks ever mentioned the word 'referendum' in any way," Moussa said, noting that Israel's actions have pushed all efforts back to "point zero".

Barak said that it would be "a waste of time and money" to carry out a referendum on the second redeployment. "We know the answer," the leader of the Israeli opposition said. "Seventy-five per cent of Israelis want the second redeployment to be implemented."

While Moussa on Sunday said that "there is no hope that Israel would accept the US initiative as we know it", Barak disagreed. After his talks with Mubarak the following day, the Israeli Labour leader said he believed that the Israelis and other players in the process "are approaching an understanding about the percentage", but did not go into details.

El-Baz, for his part, said that "one cannot predict whether the Israelis will accept the US proposal or not. They could make contact at any time."