Unity Is the Answer

Tony Blair was warned. When the former British prime minister left office in June 2007, plenty of friends and colleagues cautioned that plunging into Middle East peacemaking would be a thankless task. As envoy for the Quartet—the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia—Blair has focused primarily on economic development in the Palestinian territories. Now, with war raging, the former prime minister is watching parts of Gaza reduced. Blair spoke by phone with NEWSWEEK's Kevin Peraino. Excerpts:

NEWSWEEK: How seriously will the destruction in Gaza set back your efforts at development?
Tony Blair: It's been very difficult for the past year to do much in Gaza in economic development anyway, frankly. It's a massive task of reconstruction—humanitarian, economic—and we'll have to handle that at the appropriate time with an awful lot of support from the international community.

The United Nations and the Red Cross have been increasingly critical of this operation. Is Israel doing enough in your view to prevent civilian deaths in Gaza?
I'm not there on the ground. But I know that the U.N. is now deeply concerned, and so is the international community. So they've got to do everything they can to avoid civilian casualties. That's their duty. But let's be very honest with ourselves. The only thing that will stop innocent civilians from being killed is to put a stop to the problem. Not merely the short-term problem of getting the action in Gaza stopped, but the long-term problem, which is division on the Palestinian side—the split between Gaza and the West Bank.

Is a Palestinian unity government the solution?
Unity between Gaza and the West Bank is the answer. Unity within the Palestinians is obviously the right objective—but it's got to be on the right terms. In other words, the parties unifying have got to be agreeing. Unless it is clear that the Palestinian side is genuinely united—in other words, they agree that what they're trying to do is create their own state side-by-side with the Israeli state—it's very, very hard to get a viable negotiation. If you want a two-state solution, both sides have got to accept that there will be two states.

Doesn't this war risk exacerbating some of the differences between these two parties? Couldn't a militarily weakened Hamas embolden remaining Fatah elements to renew internecine violence?
You're right—but this is why this thing has got to be created by the international community. This process just can't be left up to the parties to try to find a way through. We've got to be helping and organizing and supporting and making sure you get not just the short-term ceasefire but the long-term resolution of this issue.

Was it frustrating to see the United States abstain from Thursday's U.N. Security Council vote?
No, the most important thing to me is getting a ceasefire on terms that can provide a lasting, durable solution. And that's all we're trying to do.