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June 18, 2005
Bush, Israel, Palestine And A Final-Status Agreement
Zbigniew Brzezinski, national security adviser to President Jimmy Carter, and William B. Quandt, a senior NSA staffer responsibility for the Middle East, penned an important commentary on the Middle East that appeared in the June 17, 2005 edition of The Washington Post. They wrote: The statement President Bush delivered at the conclusion of his recent meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas deserves serious attention. It has been much discussed by the Israeli press but drew scant commentary in the U.S. media. The president, in his formal presentation, declared that any final-status agreement between Palestinians and Israelis "must be reached between the two parties, and changes to the 1949 armistice lines must be mutually agreed to."
Lest there be any misunderstanding, the president said that "Israel should not undertake any activity that contravenes road map obligations or prejudices final-status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem. . . . A viable two-state solution must ensure contiguity of the West Bank. And a state of scattered territories will not work. "There must also be meaningful linkages between the West Bank and Gaza," the scholars wrote, adding: "This is the position of the United States today. It will be the position of the United States at the time of final-status negotiations." They said Mr. "Bush's declaration was a significant and helpful restatement of some long-held American positions. If these principles are actively embedded in Washington's policies over the months ahead, they could help further the president's stated goals of resolving the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict, promoting democracy in the Middle East and undercutting support for Islamist terrorism."
See "From Bush, Mideast Words to Act On" for more.
Posted by Munir Umrani at June 18, 2005 08:40 PM
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