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December 31, 2004/Tevet 19 5765, Vol. 57, No. 18
For Bush, P.A. election is key to peace
RON KAMPEAS
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
WASHINGTON - It was modest as Christmas miracles go - for one day, Israelis soldiers manned the barriers armed with baskets of candy, and Palestinians armed with guns kept the peace - but it was the result of heavy lifting in Washington, Jerusalem and throughout the Middle East.
And those players who made sure Bethlehem was peaceful for Christmas celebrations are hoping to pull off a bigger miracle on Jan. 9: free, peaceful and credible elections for Palestinian Authority president.
The Bush administration has formed an unlikely coalition of Congress and the United Nations, as well as Israel, Arab and European governments, to seize the opportunity to replace the late Yasser Arafat with a Palestinian leader who can work with Israel.
"Both the Congress, along with the administration, realize that the passing of Mr. Arafat creates an opportunity that was not there as long as he was alive," Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.), the House of Representatives' majority whip, told JTA.
In early December, Blunt led one of four high-level congressional tours to the Middle East since Arafat's Nov. 11 death, an extraordinary amount of attention considering the timing: the run-up to a new Congress, a second Bush term and huge domestic diversions such as the fate of social security and the ballooning national deficit.
Even more remarkable, in a season of recriminations on the Iraq war among Congress, the United Nations, the Bush administration and the international community, is the unanimity those players show on Israeli-Palestinian peace.
Further advancing the process is Israel's accession to British plans for a post-election conference on Palestinian reform, as well as Egypt's role in assuming responsibility for the Gaza transition, despite tensions with the United States over Iraq and Bush's grand plan to democratize the region.
Israel and Egypt quietly have exchanged letters amending the 1978 Camp David accords to allow Egypt to increase its forces along the Gaza border to stem arms smuggling. Additionally, Egypt will place police trainers in Gaza after the withdrawal, a greater commitment than its earlier offer to train Palestinian security forces in Egypt.
U.S. cash is playing its role. U.S. assistance has been instrumental in setting up trade zones in Egypt and Jordan that both governments need to persuade their constituencies that accom-modation with Israel pays dividends.
The United States also earmarked $23.5 million to ease Palestinian debt and pay for the elections, and the Bush administration is pressing other nations to match its contributions.
Driving efforts to close the deal, the parties say, is the determination of two men: Bush, who has made Israeli-Palestinian peace a centerpiece of his grand plan to reform the Middle East, and Sharon.
"I've probably met with Prime Minister Sharon 20 times in 20 years, and I've never seen him more engaged or more committed to find a solution than I did on the trip," Blunt said.
Sharon's rhetoric has taken a dramatic turn, embracing the Palestinians as a partner in the Gaza withdrawal and envisioning a Palestinian state where they "can live in dignity and freedom."
No one dares yet call it peace, at least not until the world sees what Abbas has to offer. Bush says the elections are a first step in the process, but not a final one.
"It is not the sign that democracy has arrived," Bush said at his end-of-year news conference. "It is the beginning of a process."
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