The Jordan Times Editorial, 26.06.07

Much hope is being pinned on the Middle East summit at Sharm El Sheikh yesterday that brought together His Majesty King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
In more than one way, the Sharm El Sheikh summit was a make-or-break meeting. The time has passed for foot-dragging and procrastination. Israel has now got to do some serious thinking and decide once and for all whether it is ready to make peace or suffer the consequences of failure, especially in light of the Hamas takeover in the Gaza Strip.
Israel surely knows that its constant intransigence and delaying tactics and its refusal to compromise for the sake of a durable and lasting peace in the region has contributed to the current cycle of violence and the rise of Hamas as the sole political force in Gaza.
If it does not want the same scenario to repeat itself in the West Bank, then it must move quickly to agree to a final settlement of all outstanding issues with the Palestinians. Half or interim measures will simply not do at this stage. The Palestinians will no longer be fooled into believing the Israeli media-spin about confidence-building measures and so forth.
As King Abdullah said on the eve of the summit, the meeting between the four leaders “must be seized as an opportunity to formulate a clear timeline for a return to negotiations.”
In order for this to succeed, three conditions must be met: Firstly, the Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank must be treated as one integral whole, despite the temporary chaos and instability in Gaza. Secondly, an iron-clad timetable for final status peace talks must be adopted with clearly defined benchmarks.
Thirdly, immediate confidence-building measures must be put into effect including the lifting of all sanctions on the West Bank and its people, including the immediate lifting of all restrictions on freedom of movement between the various parts of the West Bank and the extension of economic and political support to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
If the summit succeeded in meeting these basic requirements then it could be described as a success. If it did not, then it will go down in history along with the previous such meetings as just another set of vague promises with a Palestinian state remaining but a distant dream.