A Dangerous Slide in the Mideast

The U.S.-sponsored effort to achieve peace between Israel and the Palestinians came to a dead stop when Benjamin Netanyahu was narrowly elected Israel’s prime minister last May, and nothing that has happened since then supports the hope that negotiations might soon resume. Ideologically committed to holding on to the West Bank, Netanyahu, the Likud Party leader, continues to ignore Israel’s commitment to withdraw its army from Hebron and, meanwhile, has approved plans to expand Israeli settlements and road-building in the disputed territory. Netanyahu insists he remains committed to reaching agreement with the Palestinians. But nothing he has done invites trust in that claim.

Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian leader, has responded to the stalemate with increasingly intemperate rhetoric and, this week, calls for more overt protests by Palestinians. Clearly, the situation seems to be building toward the kind of confrontation that could cripple the peace process. That would be fine with extremist minorities in both camps, who have never supported the notion of a compromise settlement. It would be an incalculable setback for the mass of Israelis and Palestinians.

Does the Netanyahu government have a peace policy more credible and creative than simply trying to defend the sterile status quo? Does it cling to the old delusion that the Palestinians will have to make peace on Israel’s terms if only Israel can remain inflexible enough long enough? Does it really believe it can guarantee domestic tranquillity and assure Israel an accepted place in the Middle East by continuing to deny the Palestinians self-rule and legitimacy? If the chance to achieve peace is seen more as a burden to be wished away than as an opportunity, it will quickly enough disappear, and the repercussions would not be limited to just the two peoples.