Reaching For The Sky

Arafat: Talks with the Palestinian leader will be stickier. Barak has signaled his readiness to open "final status" talks on their most difficult unresolved issues--the West Bank settlements, Jerusalem's future and the permanent borders of Israel and a Palestinian state. But neither side is showing much inclination to compromise. Arafat's stated aim is an independent Palestinian state encompassing most of the West Bank. His map would restore much of the Green Line that separated Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 war. And he wants his capital in traditionally Arab East Jerusalem. Someone has to blink. Do the Arabs think Barak will renege on his campaign pledges? Certainly not if he is truly "a man of his word."

The West Bank settlers: Don't even think about it. There are some 190,000 settlers in the West Bank, and any attempt to place most of them under Arafat's control would be political suicide. An integral part of the ancient Jewish kingdoms of Judea and Samaria, this land is regarded by many Israelis as their people's sacred birthright--unlike the Golan Heights, which is little more than a coveted military position.

The White House: Clinton's foreign-policy aides see a Mideast peace deal as their last big chance to wipe that smirk off history's face. The administration is tackling the job from every imaginable angle: aid money, diplomatic stroking and arm-twisting, intensified security assistance, even planning the first space mission by an Israeli astronaut.

Peace is still a gamble. But Barak took office with a clear sense of what he could and could not accomplish as prime minister. He has promised to end the conflict. And his Arab neighbors say they believe he's equal to the task. Who's to argue with them?

© 1999