Middle East Peace

At home and abroad, the headlines last week offered the same message: On issues of vital American interest, there's no substitute for presidential leadership. Throughout his political career, President Bush has preferred to operate with a concentrated focus on a few priorities. That's served him well in organizing a systematic response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. But the world doesn't permit any president the luxury of tunnel vision.

The Soviet Union on Friday formally recognized the newly proclaimed Palestinian state, saying that the move by the Palestine National Council will help lay the foundation for the peaceful resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Alexander A. Bessmertnykh, a first deputy foreign minister, said that the Soviet Union interpreted the announcement by the Palestine National Council in Algiers earlier this week as full Palestinian recognition of Israel and the acceptance of all past U.N.

Foreign ministers representing the Arab delegations taking part in the U.S.-sponsored Middle East peace talks are scheduled to meet in Damascus today and Saturday to decide whether Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinians should resume negotiations with Israel next Tuesday in Washington. The talks were suspended last December after Israel deported about 400 Palestinians it accused of supporting the virulently anti-Israel Hamas movement.

Israeli troops had been scheduled to begin withdrawing from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho next Monday, a date Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat had publicly described as "sacred." Hallowed or not in Palestinian eyes, it's clear now that the Dec. 13 goal, set three months ago when Israel and the PLO signed their historic declaration of principles, won't be met.

Perhaps the clearest way to assess the Arab economic boycott of Israel is to say that it is increasingly absurd and undermines the rest of the world's regard for Arab statesmanship. The boycott, which has been in effect since 1950, forbids direct trade with Israel and officially blacklists those foreign companies that continue to do business with Israel. Next week Arab League officials are scheduled to meet in Damascus.

President Bush's decision to advance the Middle East "road map" in the year before his reelection campaign represents a break with a cardinal rule of presidential politics. Presidents are supposed to touch the Israeli-Arab conflict only during the first two years of their first term. After that, hands off.

Working quietly and on a shoestring budget, the little-known San Diego State University Foundation has earned the praise of State Department officials for its seven-year effort to promote a Middle East peace by sponsoring a cooperative agricultural program between Israel and Egypt.

Meeting for the second time this month as part of a new U.S.-launched peace effort, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators Monday bogged down again over familiar issues: proposed Israeli construction in areas the Palestinians claim for a future state and Israel's demand that the Palestinians crack down on armed groups.

The government of Saudi Arabia delivered a possibly fatal blow to Secretary of State James A. Baker III's "two-track" Middle East peace formula Sunday when it confirmed that it will not participate in a proposed regional conference. "Participation in the meeting traditionally has been the countries that are involved directly in peace negotiations, which are Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Israel," said Prince Saud al Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister.

In the Middle East, the prevailing question seems to be: "What will Uncle Sam do if we don't go?" As the benefits of potential Middle East peace talks are weighed throughout the region, it is becoming clear that the decisions rest not so much on the potential gains from talks with each other as they do on the cost--in relations with Washington--of staying away.