eNewsletters

April 29, 2008

Israel Office

SHATIL

Message From Larry Garber

Passover in Israel is a quiet time. Much of the country closes down for 10 days to celebrate the spring holiday. Vast numbers of Israelis take advantage of the holiday to hike, bike or otherwise enjoy the different regions of the country; others travel overseas for a few days of rest and relaxation. From my pleasant perch on the shores of the Dead Sea, this year seemed no different, except that news from the “other world” kept interfering.

First, former US President Carter’s visit to the region aroused much controversy among Israel’s political elite, many of whom are convinced of his personal animus toward Israel and objected to his willingness to meet with the Hamas leadership. The Israeli government gave him an explicit cold shoulder, even refusing initially to cooperate with his secret service detail. Carter did meet with several Israeli political leaders, including President Shimon Peres, Meretz leader Yossi Beilin and, most surprisingly, SHAS Minister Eli Yishai, who expressed a willingness to meet with Hamas leaders to promote a prisoner exchange involving kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.

In various public appearances, Carter explicitly condemned Hamas’ terrorist actions, including most explicitly the continued firing or rockets at the town of Sderot. At the same time, he stressed the importance of obtaining Hamas concurrence to ongoing talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders regarding a possible peace agreement. Despite Carter’s energetic efforts during his stay in the region the practical achievements of his personal diplomacy, at this point, appear quite limited: Shalit remains in captivity (and the promised letter has yet to materialize), Hamas continues to refuse to recognize Israel and the Gaza population is no better off today than before Carter arrived in the region. Perhaps the Egyptians, who understand well the needs of the different parties and appreciate the implications for their own regime, will fare better with their diplomacy to obtain a long-term ceasefire, a prisoner exchange and the establishment of a Gaza border regime acceptable to Israel, Egypt and the Palestinians.

Second, there were tantalizing signals regarding the possible resumption of a Israel-Syrian dialogue. While Prime Minister Olmert was enjoying his Passover vacation in the Golan, the Syrians announced that, through Turkish mediation, Israel had communicated a willingness to exchange the entire Golan Heights for peace with Syria; on the basis of such a commitment, Syria would be prepared to enter formal negotiations with Israel.

For many Middle East watchers, the scenario was a familiar one - few imagine an easy trek down the road to Damascus. Indeed, the news aroused several Israeli political leaders to interrupt their vacations and to announce that they would seek expedited consideration of a Knesset bill requiring an affirmative legislative vote before Israel could transfer all or parts of the Golan to Syria as part of a peace deal. And, as usual in the case of Syria, there are many other issues that remain on the agenda, including the whole question of Syrian nuclear ambitions and its relations with rogue states like Iran and North Korea, which received ample attention in Washington last week.
I am back in Washington and the “news” from the past couple of weeks has returned to its proper perspective. Jordanian King Abdullah and Palestinian Authority President Abbas both visited the White House and seemingly walked away empty-handed. Secretary Rice will participate Thursday in a London meeting organized by Quartet envoy Tony Blair, but few expect any dramatic announcements emerging from the gathering.

Despite the efforts of President Bush, Secretary Rice, former President Carter, former British Prime Minister Blair, the Egyptians, the Turks and other mediators, peace is not around the corner between Israel and the Palestinians or Syrians. Much work is required at both the leadership and grassroots levels to convince the various publics that peace is not only possible, but will serve their various interests. Yet, as we do not know from which direction peace will eventually emerge, we should not belittle or denigrate those who are willing to invest their time and energy in pursuing this cause, even as we may question their tactics or doubt the likelihood that they will achieve success.

In this week’s NIF News, we feature a novel Passover seder organized by the NIF family for African refugees in Israel. For the more than 300 African refugees who participated in the seder, the story of the Exodus from Egypt reflected their own journey from slavery to freedom. We also report on a court ruling following a petition by an NIF grantee, which has compelled one of Israel's leading universities to lift its ban on campus demonstrations. SHATIL highlights its winter courses and reports on a victory in Ramle, where two street names will be changed to honor Arab Israeli notables.