Tony Blair landed in
Israel yesterday
for his first visit as an international envoy, hoping to help end
60 years of peacemaking failure since Britain handed Palestine to
Jews and Arabs who are still fighting over it.
"Mission Impossible," as skeptics have dubbed the newly retired
British prime minister's task for the Quartet powers, began quietly
in what his spokesman called "listening mode."
Blair said nothing in public after meeting Jordan's foreign
minister in Amman and then Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in
Jerusalem. Today, he will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah before talks in
Jerusalem with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
"This is a preliminary visit to hear the views of key Israelis
and Palestinians about the issues that have to be addressed in
order to fulfil the demanding mandate Mr Blair has taken on," the
spokesman for the new envoy said.
"Mr Blair will also have the chance to hear from a number of
important Arab leaders their views on the situation and consider
with them how best we can jointly make progress."
The Quartet - the US, EU, UN and Russia - has asked Blair to
present by September an initial plan for building ruling
institutions needed to establish a viable Palestinian state
alongside Israel.
But that limited mandate could expand later into a more direct
peacemaking role between the parties, diplomats say.
That might unsettle Israel. Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin,
made clear Israel saw Blair's role as supporting Palestinian
institutions: "Seeing their capacity to rule grow will definitely
help the bilateral track," she told reporters.
Obstacles?
Blair faces serious obstacles to success in a role that has
doomed his predecessors' efforts. A Palestinian state seems more
remote than ever, with their territories divided between Hamas
Islamists in the coastal Gaza Strip and Abbas' secular Fatah
faction in the Israeli-occupied West Bank inland.
Israel's government may be too weak to deliver concessions such
as the withdrawal of Jewish settlements. Many Arabs resent Blair's
role in invading Iraq, and the Quartet remains divided over whether
he should have a broader negotiating mandate.
In his favor may be eagerness among leaders on both sides to
raise their stock at home by showing progress towards peace.
A close relationship with US President George W. Bush may give
added clout to Blair, a relatively youthful 54-year-old successful
in peacemaking in his Northern Irish backyard.
Abbas wants Blair to pressure Israel to ease its military grip
on the West Bank and take steps to accelerate negotiations.
For Hamas in Gaza, spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said Blair must deal
with the Islamist movement and avoid "double standards."
(China Daily July 24, 2007)
