The Middle East: A Scoreless Game in Which Everyone Loses

By Richard H. Curtiss

For a while in May and June, there seemed to be more action in Washington, DC than in the Middle East. It started even before members and devotees of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) came to town for their annual convention on May 23. Jewish Americans were at a big disadvantage, because it was clear the FBI had scored a coup against AIPAC and that the Israel lobby was doing its best to cover it up.

At the time of the AIPAC convention it already was known that two AIPAC officers, director of foreign policy Steven Rosen and senior Middle East analyst Keith Weissman, had been talking to Lawrence Franklin, an Iranian analyst at the Pentagon. It turned out that the FBI had been recording Rosen and Weissman's conversations for at least four years, on the assumption that they might have been handing over secrets to Israel, and that Franklin had been recorded surreptitiously as well. The FBI then threatened to arrest Franklin unless he helped entrap the two AIPAC officials. Franklin subsequently seems to have stopped helping the FBI. Franklin was arraigned on June 14, and a trial date set for Sept. 6. Weissman and Rosen may soon be charged with disclosing classified information.

This year the AIPAC convention was held in Washington's new Convention Center. For three days four to five thousand attendees traveled to and from their hotel in police-escorted motorcades of 5 to 10 giant air-conditioned buses. A highlight of the gathering was the appearance of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. When that show of force was over, it appeared that AIPAC had papered the house with dozens of its teenaged interns, which is a good way to expand a crowd in Washington.

Next on the Washington, DC schedule was the May 24 arrival of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, who was elected in January of this year and is, in the words of The Washington Post "arguably the Arab world's most democratically elected leader." After years of boycotting the late Yasser Arafat and ignoring him even though he was a visiting-and also elected-head of state, it was a pleasant change to find Abbas welcomed by President George W. Bush.

Without contradicting previous assurances to Israel, Bush encouraged Abbas by declaring that changes in Israel's 1967 borders must occur by agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. He ruled out steps that would prejudice an accord in the West Bank and Jerusalem, such as settlement construction.

By the time Abbas left, he had Bush's promise to give about $50 million to the Palestinian Authority. Previously Bush had restricted expenditures to such unlikely activities as money for a crossing facility enabling Palestinians to get from Gaza to Israel and giving funds to American aid agencies, non-governmental organizations, and philanthropic groups.

Following Abbas' White House meeting, he gave a series of general and exclusive interviews to members of the press. Not surprisingly, Abbas-an old hand at dealing with friendly and unfriendly journalists alike-handled himself admirably. Next, at a large reception for long-time supporters of the Palestinians, Abbas moved methodically and congenially, exchanging a friendly word with the scores of people he had met in Washington and in Palestine.

Abbas did not leave Washington, however, with a written commitment in the form of a letter from President Bush, as Sharon had a year earlier. Nevertheless, "the Palestinians were not only pleased but surprised at how well it went," said Edward G. Abington, Jr., a former State Department official who is a consultant to the Palestinian Authority. According to Abington, Palestinians believed the chemistry between Bush and Abbas was "very, very good."

Reported Washington Post correspondent Glenn Kessler: "In a breakfast meeting, Abbas made it clear he felt he had gone a long way toward rebutting assertions by Israeli officials that a letter from Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in 2004 had in effect given Israel guarantees on keeping settlements on the West Bank and on banning the return of Palestinian refugees."

At another point during the press conferenceBush also said, "Changes to the 1949 armistice lines must be mutually agreed to." The language stood in contrast to Bush's earlier commitments to Sharon. U.S. officials always have said a final peace deal must be reached through negotiations, but Palestinians said Bush's language represented a counterbalance to the commitments made to Sharon.

In subsequent interviews with the press, Abbas also took the opportunity to insist, "We cannot have a viable state without East Jerusalem"-adding, "what I am asking for is East Jerusalem, not all of Jerusalem."

Infrastructure and Security

During the four years of violence known as the second intifada, the Israelis destroyed much of the Palestinian security infrastructure-funded by $50 million from the CIA in the 1990s. Abbas is seeking U.S. assistance in obtaining equipment to bolster the security forces, such as communications gear, computers and vehicles.

Only twice before has the administration provided direct funding to the Palestinian Authority-most recently in December, after the death of Yasser Arafat, when it allocated $20 million. That money, under an agreement with Congress, went to pay outstanding bills owed to an Israeli utility company. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials say that the move freed up needed funds for other uses in Palestinian areas.

The White House may tap some of the $50 million in Palestinian aid as yet unspent from the 2005 budget, officials said. The funds would be deposited in a special account managed by Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad, who has been praised for running a transparent operation.

Then Abbas, 69, returned to Jordan for a previously scheduled coronary angioplasty on June 1. The procedure is intended to clear out clogged coronary arteries and protect against a heart attack, and the operation was successful.

Meanwhile Abbas has chosen to postpone the Palestinian elections on the grounds that the procedures for the Palestinian vote have not been finalized. Whatever the reality, it is quite certain that most Palestinians will believe that the vote was postponed because Abbas fears Fatah will lose to a strong Hamas. Hopefully he will soon reschedule the now-overdue elections.

Prime Minister of Israel Ariel Sharon has done some postponing as well. He first planned to move Israel out of Gaza in July. Then he decided to postpone it until August. Some Israeli settlers have agreed to move from Gaza, but others are still resisting. Whether the die-hards will exit Gaza violently or peacefully remains to be seen. More importantly, it appears that Israelis will stand behind their generals and will not provoke a civil war.

Meanwhile, U.S. Gen. William Ward, who previously had been instructed to limit his role to providing security assistance tothe Palestinian Authority, now has been given a more active part in helping the two parties when they reach an impasse. He will be able to do so, of course, only if the Israelis allow him to.

The unfolding of all these events means that there will be no summer doldrums either in Palestine or in Washington, DC.

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Richard H. Curtiss is executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

This article was published in the August 2005 edition of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. It is used here with permission.