BUSH'S MID-EAST PEACE GOALS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT THIS TIME

Palestinian Institution-Building Before Statehood - Michael B. Oren
Bush called on those Arab governments that have yet to establish relations with Israel to recognize its right to exist and to authorize ministerial missions to the Jewish state. Accordingly, Saudi Arabia, which has offered such recognition but only in return for a full withdrawal to the 1967 borders, will have to accept Israel prior to any territorial concessions. By insisting that the Palestinians first construct durable and transparent institutions before attaining independence, Bush effectively reversed the process set out in the 1993 Oslo Accords whereby the Palestinians would obtain statehood immediately and only later engage in institution-building. (Wall Street Journal)

Bush's Farewell Speech - Nahum Barnea
Five years ago Bush delivered his first two-state speech. He spoke of a final-status agreement within three years. On Monday, he reiterated the key points of that address with one difference: This time he was careful not to specify a timeline. The two men currently heading the PA, Mahmoud Abbas and Salim Fayyad, oppose terror and are refraining from incitement, giving Bush a Palestinian leadership he can support. In his address Monday, Bush promised to pad PA leaders with cash. But the authority does not lack funds at present. Its lacks a public basis. All Bush is promising to do is to convene a regional conference in the fall headed by Condoleezza Rice. These meetings are nothing more than castles in the air. (Ynet News)

Bush's Middle East Meeting "Not a Peace Conference"
White House Press Secretary Tony Snow clarified on Tuesday President Bush's call for an international meeting on the Middle East: "I think a lot of people are inclined to try to treat this as a big peace conference. It's not. This is a meeting to sit down and try to find ways of building fundamental and critical institutions for the Palestinians that are going to enable them to have self-government and democracy....It was being spun up as a major peace conference where people are going to be talking about final status issues, and that is not the case."

"The first thing you've got to do is build the capability within the Palestinian areas, to have those institutions that are going to be able to not only sustain democracy, but also to sustain peace and security within the area, and to be able to fulfill the Quartet conditions, which are renouncing violence, recognizing Israel, and abiding by international treaties. I mean, all those things are still capabilities that they have to work on developing. So you do first things first."

"The idea that somehow we've been disengaged is simply false. What the United States has not done is wrap its arms around those who are committed to terror and, therefore, engage in fruitless negotiations that would have led nowhere. Bill Clinton, upon leaving office, famously expressed frustration that he had trusted Yasser Arafat and, therefore, had been deceived when it came to trying to pursue peace." (White House)