European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 29, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday october 29, 1991 the stars and stripes b Page 9strategy is to keep parties talking by Thomas l. Friedman the new York times Washington a Bush administration policy makers say the Core of their strategy for peace talks in Madrid Spain is simple keep the arabs and israelis talking Long enough to create a changed environment so breakthroughs that now seem impossible might become possible. There is no a Bush peace plan that the president will suddenly pull out of a briefcase when he arrives in Madrid Replete with maps compromises and novel ideas to Settle All outstanding issues say . Officials who have been planning for the peace conference which is to open wednesday. But there is a . Conviction that the very act of getting All the parties to sit Down with one another for the first time will create a new dynamic Between them and open the door for future compromises. The United states plans to nurture such compromises first from the sidelines and later As a mediator with bridging proposals of its own if the parties alone cannot make headway. The trick say . Officials will be to carry out such mediation without supplanting the direct encounter Between the parties which is essential for changing How they look at and Deal with one another. The administrations strategy a senior policy maker said is based on the Assumption that Over time a the very act of the parties sitting Down will begin to shatter mythologies on both in particular they Hope to destroy the israeli argument that there Are no arabs with whom to talk and the Arab argument that All the israelis want is Arab lands. But for those Long held views to be shed and for Concrete peace agreements to be produced the official added a it is critical that this process continue Over a the longer these negotiations go on a he said a the greater the likelihood that areas of substance will be defined to Hook them into something that in fact is a real officials acknowledge that this strategy is untested and has three potential weaknesses. First they could discover that the problem Between arabs and israelis is not that they fail to understand each other but that they understand each other All too Well and therefore the More they talk directly the More the fundamental disagreements will be highlighted instead of bridged. Second a change of the atmosphere and dynamics key participants Between Arab nations and Israel ultimately requires change within the countries. Is a minority government like syrians a dominated by members of the Small Ala wite sect of islam in a country with a sunni Muslim majority a really ready to end its conflict with Israel and slash its army can israelis governing liked party whose very Raison do etre is its commitment to keeping the West Bank conclude agreements thit would gut its ideological Core third the United states did not get the parties to agree to talk by gentle dialogue but by using economic clout Over Israel by letting saudi Arabia know that it owed Washington for the persian Gulf War by using the soviet Union and the saudis to press Syria and by tacitly threatening the palestinians with International isolation. . Officials say privately they know that such hardball tactics if not tougher ones will be required to promote actual agreements the very act of the parties sitting Down will begin to shatter mythologies on Bot sides. Senior . Policy maker the Challenge will be to twist arms without contradicting the terms of the conference which president Bush described Friday As not intended a to impose a settlement but a to bring people together so they can achieve a for now Washington is not discussing these issues publicly. To pursue its strategy a which was worked out by Secretary of state James a. Baker Iii and the administrations senior Middle East experts Dennis b. Ross Daniel e. Wortzer Aaron d. Miller Richard Haass and William bums a Washington has evolved a game plan. It deals with each phase of the talks from the three Day opening conference at the Royal Palace in Madrid on wednesday through the first bilateral negotiations that will follow that meeting and into the planned third phase expected to involve months and probably years of detailed negotiations. Phase one in the strategy involves getting the most mileage a in terms of Public opinion in Israel and the Arab world a from the ceremonial opening in Madrid. Bush and president Mikhail s. Gorbachev will address the opening session. Bush is planning to use the Opportunity officials say to Lay out a Broad . Vision of Why peace is in everyone a interest As Well As what Washington regards As the Basic ingredients of a settlement a themes like trading land for real peace. Already the two sides have publicly set their Well known positions. The arabs insist that Israel give up All the territory it gained in the 1967 War a namely the Golan Heights which once was controlled by Syria the West Bank and East Jerusalem which once were under jordanian control and the Gaza strip which Egypt controlled. Prime minister Yitzhak Shamire a government has repeated its position that it does not intend to give up any More land. Israel did return All of the Sinai Peninsula to Egypt after the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1979. While the administration docs not expect any party to drop or modify its Basic positions at this opening session it is nevertheless quietly coaching Israel Jordan Lebanon Syria and the palestinians to use their opening speeches to convey the message that there really Are new possibilities. Phase two starts after the opening when Israel and Syria Israel and Lebanon and Israel and the Jordani an palestinian delegation Are supposed to hold separate negotiations. These will open in Madrid and then . Officials say Are Likely to move to the Middle East. The administration wants these talks to evolve in two stages. It expects the parties to make conflicting demands. But it Hopes to prevent the collisions from derailing the talks to encouraging the parties to consider first trading Small Confidence building gestures. Exactly How the United states will make its suggestions though raises what . Officials say is the most sensitive aspect of these talks. How docs the United states encourage the parties to keep talking Long enough to produce psychological transformations without stepping in and becoming a mediator interfering with the give and take of direct talks according to the conference invitation Washington is allowed to attend the bilateral talks Only if both sides invite it. Initially at least Israel is unlikely to do that because it wants to underscore the face to face aspect of talks and the implicit recognition this connotes. Therefore said an american Washington a representatives will stand a just outside the Egypt Syria Israel Lebanon Plo Jordan saudi Arabia i go president Hosni Mubarak succeeded Anwar Sadat after he was assassinated in 1981 by Muslim fundamentalists for signing a peace treaty with Israel. Guided Egypt Back into its traditional position As political and military Anchor of the Arab world a role it had lost after the 1979 treaty with Israel. President Hafez Assad seized Power in a bloodless coup in 1970 Long Israel s most implacable enemy born member of peasant minority Analite Muslim sect moved up through the ranks of ruling baath socialist party to become air Force commander. His declared ambition for two decades was to achieve Quot strategic parity Quot with Israel and regain the Golan Heights. Suffered a heart attack in november 1983, which triggered an abortive coup attempt. Prime minister Yitzhak Shamir former guerrilla and intelligence operative believes in the creation of Quot greater balks at . Efforts to get Israel to Trade land for peace. Born Yitzhak Sernitsky in Ruz Imir Poland joined betar a right Wing zionist movement. Became Leader of the under ground Stern gang blamed for the assassinations of Britain s Middle East minister lord Moyne and swedish . Mediator count Folke Bernadotte who opposed making Jerusalem part of Israel. President Elias Herawi elected by parliament in 1989 has overseen with syrian support an Arab league brokered treaty that has ended Lebanon s civil War. Maronite Catholic. Relatively minor figure in the peace process Lebanon s involvement was at insistence of Syria the main Power broker in Lebanon. Chairman Yasser Arafat has used both violence and diplomacy to push the palestinians plight to the forefront of world attention. Egyptian educated civil Engineer. In 1959, he co founded the Fatah guerrilla movement which became Plo s dominant faction. In 1988 he got the palestinians parliament in exile to recognize Israel he also renounced terrorism. Credibility plummeted because of his support for iraqi president Saddam Hussein in the persian Gulf War. King Hussein ascended Jordan s throne in 1953 As teen Ager has survived numerous assassination attempts. Crushed leftist inspired rebellion in the 1950s, Rode out the arabs 1967 defeat by Israel that Cost him the West Bank and crushed palestinian guerrillas in a 1970 civil War. Since 1989, Hussein has launched a liberalization drive that gave Jordan one of the Arab worlds freest presses and most open parliaments. King fahd pro Western Monarch has ruled since 1982 sixth son of King Abdel Aziz Ibn Saud the kingdom s founder. Believed to be world s second richest person Worth an estimated $18 billion in 1988. Key Muslim Leader has title of custodian of the two holy shrines a Mecca and medinas. Abandoned saudi Arabia s normally cautious foreign policy by inviting . And other foreign forces to defend his kingdom after Iraq s invasion of Kuwait
