The Daily Star Editorial, 29.08.07

(Lebanon) Tuesday's meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert represented yet another example of rare and precious opportunity resulting in a mere photo opportunity. The two men did manage to at least talk about some of the core issues at the center of the conflict, including Jerusalem, refugees and final borders. However, they only discussed these issues in broad, hypothetical terms, without delving deeply into the nitty-gritty details.
In other words, the Abbas-Olmert meeting resulted in absolutely nothing new. The same contentious issues have been discussed and negotiated in greater detail in a variety of forums that have made more progress toward identifying the concessions that Israel will have to make in order to reach a peace agreement. Any 10-year-old Arab child can identify the minimum requirements that will need to be met in order to bring these three problems to a point of closure.
There is no shortage of peace proposals and plans that address the core issues, and indeed everyone already knows what the outlines of a final settlement will need to look like. What is absent, however, is the political will on the Israeli side to take the painful but necessary steps that will lead to peace. In fact, getting Israel to take small steps to build confidence - such as halting illegal settlement expansion, easing restrictions and removing check points in the West Bank - has proven to be much like pulling teeth. Even now, at a time when Palestinian and regional leaders are showing unprecedented resolve to reach a final peace settlement with the Jewish state, the Israelis are sadly still dragging their feet.
What is unfortunate is that the longer the peace process stalls without any sign of progress, the more difficult it will be to convince Arab publics that peace with Israel is achievable. Israel is now at a crossroads in its history: Leaders across the Arab world are aligned in their commitment to making peace a reality. These "moderate" leaders have put their credibility on the line, and if they fail, this will serve as a powerful lesson to the 10-year-olds in this region. Failure could very likely mean that within the span of a decade, Israel will find itself surrounded by an Arab world that is united in extremism, even in places like the Gulf and Egypt. Given that alternative, it is in Israel's interests to make concessions now for the sake of peace.