The US is unlikely to address the Arab-Israeli conflict – arguably one of the most important foreign policy issues – while in the throes of pre-election fever, says Nabil Shaath, Palestinian foreign minister, in an exclusive interview with Emerging Markets.
Shaath says that although he believes the State Department is aware of the urgency of the situation, real action is unlikely. “Colin Powell [US Secretary of State] isn’t oblivious to the dangers inherent in the absence of any US involvement or movement at all,” says Shaath, but he adds, “We are in the fever of elections so the question falls on deaf ears.”
His comments come amid some of the bloodiest fighting in Gaza since 2002, as the Israeli army broadened its incursion into the region, killing over 50 people over the past thre days. It was in apparent retaliation for an attack earlier this week by Palestinian militants.
Shaath says that neither US President George Bush nor Senator John Kerry are likely to meaningfully tackle the conflict. “When it comes to the election campaign, it seems that the two candidates pursue the least objectionable line to the US electorate and particular lobby groups,” he says.
Shaath, who is not in contact with the Kerry team, adds that the Senator’s policies on the Arab-Israeli conflict are unclear. Although the presidential contender declared he would show the same resolve to end the conflict as former President Bill Clinton, his proposals seem barely different from the policies of the Bush administration – which has so far largely backed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
“When it comes to Kerry, there are certainly questions of trust. I’m not saying that we trust or distrust what he’s saying, but there are questions,” Shaath says
Nevertheless, he says, “we have to take a longer term view than just the current electioneering. US involvement [in resolving the conflict] can be very legitimate, but only if it pursues the rule of international law.”
He urges the international community to reassess the gravity of the situation facing the economy. Although the donor community has given $1.5 billion in aid, “with the present Israeli destruction, it’s all going directly into reconstruction,” he says. “The World Bank stated that $1.5 billion would be enough. But that is not enough for any impact on the ground.”
“What is needed now is money to seriously address the problem. We need the donor community to seriously look at the model of an independent Palestinian economy in the peace process and then move towards reaching it,” he says.