The Evasion Of Peace Process

With the current revival of the 2002 Arab League plan for peace with Israel, the U.S. and Israeli governments face a difficult challenge: how can they continue pretending they want peace, while avoiding it at all costs?

I assume the Bush administration will do its best simply to ignore the plan's existence. In this, they'll receive crucial help from media—for instance, the Washington Post, which helpfully put its story about the plan on page A14.

Things are harder for Olmert, because Israel is less powerful than the U.S., and thus sometimes has to acknowledge reality. Their scheme will likely be to talk fulsomely about how the plan is "welcome," and then hope everyone forgets about it. Olmert is already heading down this path, speaking about a "revolutionary change in outlook" by the Arab states (for which he takes credit), which could possibly lead to peace "in the next five years." But of course, it's impossible to be more specific, since—as an Israeli spokeswoman says—"we need to really sit down and study it." Less unsaid is how exactly something five years old could be revolutionary, and why it couldn't have been studied at some point during those five years.

In any case, this has worked well for both countries in the past, as with the 2002 version of this plan (which sank without a trace), and the 2003 Arab proposal for a WMD-free mideast (for which John Negreponte explained the timing was not right). Oh, how the U.S. and Israel yearn for peace! Oh, how they wish there could be a WMD-free mideast! They will surely move heaven and earth to make this happen, just as soon as the time is right! Which is the year 3478 A.D.