Annapolis Meeting Aims To Boost M. East Moderates

Two-state solution offers alternative to further radicalization in region

Annapolis Meeting Aims To Boost Moderates in Mideast Peace Push

An upcoming U.S.-sponsored meeting in the United States of Israeli and Palestinian leaders aims to lay the groundwork for a Palestinian state and enhance long-term Middle East stability.

"What we're trying to do here is to give to the moderate forces a chance to demonstrate that statehood is a reality," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at an October 24 congressional hearing. Although the United States has been a champion for the cause of Mideast peace for more than 60 years, President Bush's vision of a two-state solution with Israel and Palestine also must be viewed in the framework of the global struggle against violent extremism, she said.

"Our concern is growing that without a serious political prospect for the Palestinians, that gives to moderate leaders a horizon that they can show to their people that indeed there is a two-state solution that is possible, we will lose the window for a two-state solution, that you will see the further radicalization of Palestinian politics, of politics in the region," Rice told the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

President Bush announced a series of new measures July 16 to strengthen the West Bank-based government of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, following the violent seizure of the Gaza Strip by Hamas, which is opposed to Israel and receives aid and support from Iran and Syria.

In addition to nearly $500 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority, Bush also announced in July an intensified U.S. diplomatic initiative to help Israelis and Palestinians define the "political horizon" of a future Palestinian state and he called for an international meeting of leaders from across the region aimed at moving closer to its creation.

Rice testified that the upcoming conference in Annapolis, Maryland, will support ongoing bilateral talks between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "They have said that they want to write down some of the understandings between them," Rice said.

The secretary of state also praised the work of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and General Keith Dayton, U.S. security coordinator for the Israel-Palestinian Authority, in strengthening Palestinian political and security institutions, and urged Israelis and Palestinians to continue toward fulfilling their obligations under the Road Map for Middle East Peace developed by the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States, known collectively as "the Quartet."

Rice emphasized the importance of wider regional engagement and reported that Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia have expressed encouragement for the conference, the date for which has not yet been announced.

"We will be pressing very hard for our allies to help in this endeavor because it will benefit, of course, the responsible Arab states if this conference is a success," Rice said. "They, too, face the same forces of extremism that are making it difficult in the Palestinian Territories."

ENDS

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