Looking for the third way

Is the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative finding favour with both Israel and the US? Considering how significantly Israel wants it changed, the answer is: probably not
As the week came to a close, things weren't looking much brighter either on the ground in the occupied territories, or at the diplomatic level. Although there were hints of movement on, or at least discussion of, the two documents aiming to put an end to the current Palestinian-Israeli crisis, the violence in Palestine continued at full force.
The fact that both the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the so-called Mitchell report -- the result of a fact-finding mission mandated by the October 2000 Sharm El-Sheikh summit -- came out strongly against Israeli settlements has irked the Israelis. Strenuous efforts are being made by Israel to tone down the language of both documents on settlements and other core issues. When it comes to the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative, however, Egyptian diplomatic sources are clear in their rejection of anything that changes the substance of the plan.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz recently leaked on its Web site a copy of the Egyptian-Jordanian proposal given to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon by Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel-Ilah Al-Khatib. It also published the Israeli proposed amendments. A glance at those suggestions makes clear the reasons for Egypt's and Jordan's reluctance to accept those changes.
An Egyptian diplomat suggested that when it comes to semantic changes in the document, there is no problem, so long as both sides understand the wording to mean the same thing. But, according to the documents released by Haaretz, many of the suggested changes go far beyond the semantic.
The Israelis want to change references to the "total and immediate freeze of all settlement activities, including those in East Jerusalem", to the far more vague "The Israeli government will not establish any new settlements in the West Bank and Gaza."
Again, in an attempt to take the meat out of the document, Israel wants the phrase "both parties will agree that they will conclude these negotiations within one year from the date of their resumption", changed to "both sides will make every effort to complete the negotiations."
One Israeli commentator admitted that, in suggesting these types of changes, what the Israelis are doing, first and foremost, is wasting time. This point is made clear by Israeli suggestions to use "calm" instead of "defuse", at one point, while, in another part of the document, to use "quiet" instead of "calm." Somewhere in the middle, perhaps, between changes in the basic goals of the initiative and mere semantics, is a suggested change from a "return to the state that prevailed prior to September 2000" to "conditions that existed before the present conflict".
The Jordanian foreign minister, meanwhile, was in Washington this week to discuss the proposal with US Secretary of State Colin Powell. Reports from Washington indicated that the US might be taking a greater interest in the proposal, especially after the Mitchell report confirmed some of the same basic ideas. After the meeting, Al-Khatib indicated that he felt the changes the United States wanted to introduce to the document were unnecessary.
In Cairo, the Japanese ambassador confirmed his country's full backing for the initiative this week, and even offered that Japan be one of the countries which would monitor the initiative's implementation, if it ever reached that point. The full Japanese support represents the more solid position that Egyptian diplomacy has been seeking from Japan for quite some time now.
Along the same lines, stepped up efforts by France may produce yet another proposal, which would use the core of the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative to convince the two sides to head back to the negotiating table. French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine held discussions with then Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa last week in Tangiers on the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the subsequent French diplomatic efforts intended to defuse the crisis.
While a French diplomatic source commented that "the point is that this initiative is the only initiative in the air," Vedrine said that "something has to be done; we have never seen such a disturbing situation."
As such, an invitation was proffered to both Israeli Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to come to France to discuss the French spin on the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative. According to a French diplomatic source, Arafat agreed without hesitation, while Sharon did not commit himself.
At the meetings in Tangiers, the French "excused" a decision to abstain from voting on the March UN Security Council resolution requesting international peacekeeping forces to be sent to the region on the grounds that since the US was vetoing the resolution anyway there was no point in Paris voting for it.
On Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak met with Arafat in Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss the initiative and the Mitchell report, as well as the deteriorating situation in Palestinian territories. On the same day, a speech by Arafat was broadcast back home, stating in clear terms the Palestinian requirements for any resumption of negotiations with the Israelis. "Israel must withdraw its army and settlers from Palestinian territories, and the refugee problem must be resolved," he said.
Mubarak and Arafat committed themselves to continued consultations, and Cairo said it would step up its contacts with various parties "to end Israel's aggressive measures and pave the way for positive progress on the political level." Those comments were made by newly-appointed Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, who also said, in his first statements to the press, that the Egyptian-Jordanian initiative and the Mitchell report should serve as "the basis for putting an end to the serious situation in the region and relaunching negotiations."
Mubarak was scheduled to meet in Sharm El-Sheikh with Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad yesterday in an attempt to close Arab ranks in response to the worsening situation. After the president's meeting with Arafat, Mubarak's political adviser, Osama El-Baz, affirmed that a firm Arab stance was needed to "contain Israeli aggression against the Palestinians."
Whether that would bring the Israelis closer to the table remains to be seen.
By Tarek Atia, Dina Ezzat and Nevine Khalil
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