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July 14, 2000/11 Tammuz 5760, Vol. 52, No.44
Soldier of fortuneEditorialMaking peace, not war, like so many things in life, is easier said than done.Just ask Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Chief Yasser Arafat, now closeted at Camp David attempting to hammer out a final status agreement. The meetings at the historic site - where President Jimmy Carter brokered the momentous Camp David Accords signaling peace between Israel and Egypt - have gotten much play in the press as President Clinton's 11th hour attempt to secure his place in history rather than as a genuine effort to end generations of conflict in the Middle East. But Clinton's raw ambition aside, the talks are crucial to determining Israel's fortunes. Barak - who left Israel for Camp David with his government in disarray and pundits denigrating his One Israel party - cloaked himself in the mantle of leadership, invoking the names of his peacemaking predecessors, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, who also had gone off to make peace and had returned with some of the spoils; now it is up to him to return home with proof of progress. Barak, an astute military and political strategist, has surveyed the terrain and sized up his opponent. Arafat, with age closing in and Palestinian frustration nipping at his heels, is less agile. Barak also has assessed the political tenor at home and calculated just how far he can go in making peace. Too little, too late equates to more frustration and derision. Too much, too fast would mean more fear and consternation. Yet, as the world watches, it becomes clearer that the real arbiters of peace are not those going mano a mano around the negotiating table but those on the streets of Jerusalem and Gaza City. The summit can delineate the parameters for peace, but it is the people who will determine if it is a workable agreement with compromises and concessions they are willing to accept. Barak must summon all his considerable skill as a politician to wield the necessary consensus for whatever accord, or interim agreements, he brings home. His political fortunes, and those of Israel, depend on it. |
