Israeli and Palestinian Leaders Meet for 1st Time in 4 Years

02/08/2005

By STEVEN R. WEISMAN and TERENCE NEILAN

NY Times

Published: February 8, 2005

The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel today and afterward described the talks as “the beginning of a new era.’’

Mr. Abbas said the Palestinians had agreed to cease all attacks against the Israelis, and that attacks on Palestinians by Israelis would also stop.

He said today’s talks offered “the best opportunity for restoring the peace process’’ so that the Israeli and Palestinians can revive their hopes for peace.

The two leaders came together at a historic summit meeting in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el Sheik to declare their intention to achieve a lasting truce after four years of conflict. The host of the summit meeting, President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and King Abdullah II of Jordan were also attending the talks, which mark the first meeting between the top Israeli and Palestinian leaders in nearly five years.

After greeting Mr. Abbas, Mr. Sharon held talks first with Mr. Mubarak and then King Abdullah before all four leaders sat down for a joint lunch.

On Monday, in a related step, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in effect renewed direct American involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the first time in a year and a half. After meeting with Mr. Abbas in Ramallah, on the West Bank, she announced that President Bush will meet separately in the spring with each leader and appointing an American “senior security coordinator” to help train and equip Palestinian forces and monitor Israeli and Palestinian promises.

Together, the announcements added to the growing momentum toward reviving a peace effort that was stalled until the death of Yasir Arafat, the Palestinian leader, in November. But while these were considered the most hopeful signs in more than a year, there were also warnings of potential pitfalls ahead.

Israeli and Palestinian officials characterized the actions as a cease-fire, but there will be no joint declarations or signatures on a document. Mr. Sharon and Mr. Abbas will unilaterally declare their intent to stop attacks, but each will emphasize that progress will depend on steps taken by the other side.

“We expect a declaration on the Palestinian side on the cessation of armed conflict, the intifada,” said Raanan Gissin, Mr. Sharon’s spokesman. “Israel will also make a unilateral declaration that says if the Palestinians cease fire, we will refrain from military activity.”

Mr. Gissin cautioned that in the past four years, 10 announcements of cease-fires had been followed by a resumption of violence, but added that the new announcement “has a greater chance of success than before” because of a new determination to cooperate after the death of Mr. Arafat.

Much will depend on the ability of Mr. Abbas to rein in the militant Palestinian factions, particularly Hamas, which has agreed to suspend attacks temporarily but is withholding further comment until after hearing from Mr. Abbas about the Tuesday meeting.

“We are waiting for Mahmoud Abbas to return and speak with us,” said Dr. Mahmoud Zahar, a senior Hamas leader, who met with Egyptian officials in Gaza City on Monday. “When we see what has been achieved, we will declare our position. We are not under any kind of pressure.”

Hamas has always rejected peace talks with Israel, which it refuses to recognize. But when Mr. Abbas was the prime minister in 2003, he did persuade Hamas to halt attacks for a brief period, and he has been in regular contact with the group in recent weeks.

A senior Palestinian official said Monday that the summit meeting would declare “a resumption of political relations and a mutual cease-fire.” But Palestinian officials cautioned that Israel would have to follow through on its promises to pull back its forces from West Bank cities and discontinue its attacks on Palestinians if the new arrangement were to work.

Nonetheless, what makes the current situation more hopeful, according to American, Israeli and Palestinian officials, is the apparently productive effort to carry out more specific steps in coming weeks, which are to be enshrined in the statements to come at Sharm el Sheik.

Since the late 1990’s, the United States has played an on-again-off-again role as a “monitor” to push peace talks, each time starting with high hopes but ending in disappointment.