Former
British Prime Minister Anthony Blair
On First Trip As Mideast Envoy
By Josef Federman
Date : 23th July 2007
JERUSALEM - Former British Prime
Minister Tony Blair on Monday kicked off his first visit to the Middle
East as the international community's new envoy to the region,
hoping to add new momentum to fledgling peace efforts between Israel and
the Palestinians.
The newly appointed envoy for the "Quartet" of Mideast
mediators — the United States,
European Union,
U.N. and Russia —
arrived in Israel for his first visit in the new post. During the
two-day visit, Blair planned to meet with Israeli
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas and other top officials.
Blair arrives at a promising time. The Palestinian
uprising has fizzled and Israel says it's ready to work with the new
Palestinian leadership after seven years of stalemate.
But limits on Blair's responsibilities — he has no
authority to negotiate a final peace deal — have already raised
questions about his ability to forge a breakthrough, and Israeli and
Palestinian officials played down expectations for the visit.
Blair's first stop was a meeting with Israeli Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni,
who said the visit was of great significance and that Blair's mission —
to strengthen the Palestinian economy and government — is an important
step toward Palestinian statehood.
"This is a critical point that can create a
breakthrough," she said. There were no immediate details on their talks.
Blair was to meet Defense Minister Ehud
Barak later Monday. On Tuesday, he travels to the West Bank
to meet Abbas and his prime minister, Salam Fayyad, then winds up his
trip with a dinner at Olmert's home.
Blair touched down in Tel Aviv in
a white, unmarked private jet and immediate exited Ben Gurion
International Airport in a heavily guarded motorcade through the
"Gate of Shalom" terminal.
He traveled to the upscale King David Hotel in Jerusalem,
where he was met by a horde of photographers. Blair made no comment as
he pushed through the crowd into an elevator.
Blair arrived from neighboring Jordan, where he met with
Foreign Minister Abdul-Ilah al-Khatib. Jordanian officials said Blair
listened to Jordan's perspective on restarting the Mideast peace
process. Jordan and Egypt are
the only Arab countries that have made peace with Israel.
The visit comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity
aimed at bring Israel and the Palestinians back to the negotiating
table.
President Bush
called last week for an international peace conference on the Middle East
in the autumn. On Wednesday, the Jordanian foreign minister and his
Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, are due in Israel to formally
present an Arab peace initiative that envisions full Arab recognition
of Israel in return for lands the Jewish state captured in the 1967
Middle East war.
Israeli and Palestinian officials have welcomed the
involvement of Blair, who brings a high-profile and well-respected
figure to Mideast diplomacy. He is known for his powers of persuasion
and track record in forging Northern Ireland's peace accord.
But in his new job, Blair has been given a relatively
limited assignment: to prepare the ground for a Palestinian state by
encouraging reform, economic development and institution-building.
There is no mention of trying to help broker a final
peace deal, a role the United States
appears reluctant to cede. Such constraints could quickly turn Blair
into the latest of a long succession of well-meaning, yet ultimately
ineffective mediators.
Ahead of the visit, Israeli and Palestinian officials
acknowledged Blair's limitations and said a final peace deal could only
come through direct talks.
"What I do with the Israelis, what the Israelis do with
me, is the main ingredient," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.
"The decisions required for peace are not going to come from the
envoys."
Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity
because they weren't authorized to talk to the media, said expectations
were low for Blair's first visit. They said the talks would be
introductory, and they did not expect major pressure from him.
A word of caution also came from James Wolfensohn,
Blair's predecessor as envoy of the diplomatic Quartet.
In 2005, Wolfensohn, a former World Bank president, was
asked to oversee the rebuilding of the Gaza Strip
after Israel's pullout from the area.
Wolfensohn accomplished less than he hoped and saw the
last of his achievements — creating a gateway to the world for
fenced-in Gazans — unravel after the Islamic militant Hamas'
violent takeover of Gaza last
month.
Wolfensohn told the Israeli daily Haaretz that while he
made some mistakes, his main problem was lack of authority.
The U.S. dominates the Quartet, he noted. "There was
never a desire on the part of the Americans to give up control of the
(peace) negotiations," Haaretz quoted him as saying.
Blair's successor, Prime Minister Gordon Brown,
promised full support. "We will give him whatever help we can for what
is a very important mission," he told a news conference in London.
Even in his limited role, Blair will have to confine his
work to the West Bank,
since the international community continues to shun Hamas, now in
control of Gaza. Following the Hamas takeover, Abbas formed a new
moderate government in the West Bank.
Chances of transforming the West Bank are perhaps better
than any time since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in
2000, following failed peace talks.
The violence, which left nearly 4,400 Palestinians and
more than 1,100 Israelis dead, blocked any progress in peacemaking, but
the uprising has run out of steam.
Hamas, responsible for scores of deadly attacks, is
largely contained behind Gaza's border fences and on the defensive in
the West Bank, while scores of gunmen from Abbas' Fatah movement have
surrendered their weapons in exchange for an Israeli amnesty.
In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Blair could
not ignore Hamas, which swept Palestinian parliamentary elections last
year. "It will lead to nothing but failure," he said.
Abbas' government is eager to resume negotiations on a
final peace deal, but Israel says
it's too soon. Israel is willing to talk about general outlines of an
agreement, but argues that negotiations can only begin once Abbas has
disarmed militants and restored order in areas under his control.
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