How Rice Won a Mideast Deal

TIME ^ | 11/15/05 | ELAINE SHANNON

[Pikamax]

Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2005 How Rice Won a Mideast Deal Behind the scenes of the Secretary of State's all-nighter to open Palestinian border crossings By ELAINE SHANNON/JERUSALEM

When Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived at Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah Monday morning, Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad knew it was her 51st birthday. He said he had a present that wouldn't exceed the government gift limit. He reached into a brown paper supermarket bag and pulled out a shiny green bell pepper.

“These are really good,” Fayyad said. “These are not quite ready yet. In two more weeks they'll be ready for export. If we succeed, they'll be exported. And that will mean a lot to a bunch of farmers.”

Fayad didn't need to spell out the rest. Getting the pepper crop to market may have been as important for the Secretary of State as it was for Palestinian farmers: She considers a stable, self-sustaining Palestinian economy a cornerstone of the prospects for achieving peace via Palestinian statehood, and until other industries took root, Gaza's harvest would be a key component of the local economy.

Two weeks earlier, Rice had been warned by James Wolfensohn, the former World Bank chief sent by the U.S. and its allies as a special envoy to help reboot the Palestinian economy, that Gaza's harvest, which was almost due, would be likely to rot in warehouses. That was because Israel, which controls all access points into the Palestinian territories even after withdrawing from Gaza, and the Palestinian authority had been unable to reach an agreement that would let inhabitants of the territories travel and trade. The two sides were inches from a deal, Wolfensohn said, but were hung up on details.

"We need to try to close it," Wolfensohn had urged Rice. "If you're the Secretary of State of the United States, I would have to say there's a little more clout associated with that. And therefore, to push it over the edge one need not envoys but Secretaries of State."

Rice agreed. The Secretary of State, a diehard Cleveland Browns fan, put it this way: "Sometimes the last yard is the hardest." Also, she said, details weren't trivial: It wasn't unreasonable for Israelis to be obsessed with security, nor for Palestinians to be equally prickly about sovereignty and independence.

When she joined the talks, Israel was insisting that its own security personnel continue to screen the gateways, particularly the currently closed Rafah crossing linking Gaza to Egypt. The Israelis wanted to post surveillance cameras at the crossing to screen for suspicious individuals, weapons and even large sums of cash that could finance terror cells. But the Palestinians balked, arguing that this amounted to occupation by proxy

Wolfensohn had proposed to break the deadlock by having European personnel police the Rafah crossing, but the Israelis still insisted on access to the surveillance camera video feeds and computer data streams at the crossing. Also, the Palestinians wanted to have final authority. The Palestinians also complained the harvest couldn't wait for the months it would take to comply with Israeli demands that they install state-of-the-art scanners to screen trucks. So Wolfensohn threatened to walk, leaving the two sides, as he recounted over the weekend, to "blow each other up."

On Monday, Rice met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as well as with other senior officials, and also with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, pressing both sides to find the "will and creativity" to open not only Rafah but all the gateways in and out of Gaza and the West Bank.

As the odds on achieving a deal fluctuated all day, Rice's stubborn side kicked into high gear. "I'm not going to leave here until we get an agreement," she told an aide. She decided to delay her departure for Asia and return to Jerusalem after paying a condolence call on Jordan's King Abdullah in response to the Amman terror attacks.

When she returned from Jordan around 10 p.m., success was far from certain. "It will take all the power of the United States to push this one," said a Palestinian official.

But Rice was, says a State Department negotiator, “totally relentless.” She deployed her full arsenal of pesuasive techniques alternating between charm, relentless badgering and the intimidating suggestion that the most trusted advisor of the most powerful leader in the world was not going to leave town until she got what she came for. "When she focuses on something," says a U.S. official present, "she will use whatever it takes."

She gathered with other U.S. diplomats and Palestinian representatives in her suite for intensive talks over three hours, using a secure laptop to make line-by-line changes in a draft "agreement on movement and access." A top-level Israeli team arrived at her hotel about 1 a.m., producing a round of "elevator diplomacy" between Israeli and Palestinian delegations ensconced on different floors of the hotel. While she waited for one group to go and the next to arrive, Rice, full of nervous energy, paced the hall, popping in on junior staffers as they typed or proof-read. “Condi never got tired, never lost her edge or here sense of humor,” says a State Department negotiator. By 4:30 am the parties had agreed in principle. Rice allowed herself a two-hour nap, then went back into meetings until the six-page agreement was ready for release, shortly after 10 a.m.

The document commits Israel to permit the immediate export of the pepper crop and the rest of the Gaza harvest "on an urgent basis." By Dec. 15, Israel agreed, Israeli border authorities would process 150 export trucks a day through the Karni commercial crossing into their territory, and by the end of next year, that number would increase to 400 trucks a day. Israel also agreed to allow the movement of bus convoys between Gaza and the West Bank starting Dec. 15, allowing travel between Palestinian territories physically separated by Israel.

Israel agreed to allow the Palestinians to begin building a seaport and not to interfere with its operation. The document also committed the sides to serious talks on the construction of a Palestinian airport.

The security-sovereignty deadlock was resolved in a compromise in which the Israelis agreed to cede responsibility for camera surveillance and watch-list screening at Rafah to European personnel, while the Palestinians accepted that the Europeans would have final authority to order extra searches and computer checks on people and vehicles traveling from Egypt to Gaza.

Condi Rice put her reputation on the line for this mission and, for the moment, it appears to have paid off. “That we could get this done opens an international passage for the Palestinians, the first time since 1967,” says a State Department official. “For 38 years, Israel has controlled entry and egress for every Palestinian in the territories. And now they get to do it themselves, approximately 60 days after the Israelis departed Gaza.”

The Americans didn't get everything they asked for. “But we got a lot,” the official says. “What we wanted to do here is prove that things could be put together.”

The Secretary of State eschewed terms such as "breakthrough," warning that the test of the deal lay in its implementation. She has asked Wolfensohn to monitor progress and report to her every two weeks, vowing to return if necessary. "I think there's a chance," she said cautiously, "that if we can get through what were issues about how Gaza is going to operate, perhaps we can return to the bigger issues"

Rice's all-nighter demonstrated the extent of hands-on diplomatic effort required to get the two parties to achieve what she conceded was just one step towards the goal of establishing a Palestinian state that can live in harmony with its Israeli neighbor. Once the drama of its 13th hour surprise ending fades, the episode may be a sobering reminder of how long and arduous the journey remains — and of how much more may be required of the Bush administration and its successors if progress is to be sustained.

[Cecily]

May of 2004. There are many, many reasons why the UN, its employees, and especially UNRWA are very unpopular with the Israelis. The UN provides convenient cover for lots of anti-Israel activity.

[littleleaguemom]

I said the average Israeli is not religious. If you state 20% are observant, is that not the same thing?

[littleleaguemom]

Well, I'm done here. It's sad to see so-called conservatives trashing SOS Rice for trying to accomplish the impossible. Why not offer prayers for a successful outcome instead of demonizing Palestine?

[kabar]

Way to go Condi. A little hands on diplomacy goes a long way.

[safisoft]

Contrary to the perception of many non-Jews and even many secular and semi-practicing Jews, the State of “Israel” and the Zionist movement are actually considered the antithesis of Jewish beliefs. Proponents of Zionism have been engaged in a long futile struggle to find ways to legitimize their beliefs to traditional Judaism since the movement was first conceived at the end of the 19th century. Zionism is regarded within traditional Orthodox Jewry as being completely contrary to the Torah and to how it has been practiced for thousands of years.

What a joke. Yes, many of the first Zionists of the 19th and early 20th Centuries were Marxist and Socialist. The fact is, that the majority of Evangelical Christians are Zionists too, and it is because it is Biblically sound. As for Orthodox Jews not being Zionist, that is silly. It was the Orthodox that were behind the anti-disengagement movement.

[mosquewatch.com]

No Sir , I would not. Both are horrid choices.

[diverteach]

Until you had mentioned it, I had never heard of the .
"supercesstion theology". After doing a little research to find out exactly what it was, it does make sense as to how Condi and W's actions regarding Israel.

But let me ask you this, how do you know that this is thier belief?

[mosquewatch.com]

Because the palistinians are murdering thugs, and practice human sacfrice. If you wish well to these people, you have a problem.

[mosquewatch.com]

Would you like to live near a people that teach there children "Die for allah and kill Jews." ? And some very ignorant Americans want a "Palestine"? Totally ignorant.

[littleleaguemom]

And you know this how? You have personally gone undercover and seen these things?

[Sabramerican]

Enjoy

http://stream.realimpact.net/rihurl.ram?file=realimpact/memri/memri_v2.rm

[safisoft]

But let me ask you this, how do you know that this is thier belief?

It follows denominational lines in Protestants. The majority of Evangelicals are not in that camp (they hold to dispensationalism instead). I think both views of Israel are wrong (dispensationalism and supercessionism), but dispensationalism is far preferable as it is friendly toward the physical State of Israel. Which is why most Evangelicals are pro-Israel.

[Nachum]

I said the average Israeli is not religious. If you state 20% are observant, is that not the same thing?

Not at all. 1 in 5 is a very large percentage. Most of the Jews of the country celibrate the major holidays and at least another 20% are tradional in their observance but to the degree of the Orthodox. The country virtually shuts down during the major Jewish holidays. If you actually spent time with Jews in Isreal, you might learn how connected they are to their faith.

[Thinkin' Gal]

"The woman gave it to me, and I ate."

This surely then could not be Bush's fault. Oh wait, he's the one in the tree.

[Anthem]

Thanks for the pictures, I really enjoyed them. What an extraordinary experience that must have been. Inspiring! (BTW, you look like my sister to an amazing extent).

I found your comments on Zionism to be similar to my own experience. I used to defend Israel until fairly recently. After seeing the incredible amount of bigotry coming from the Zionists here on FR, coupled with reading some of the Israeli web sites, I have changed my mind.

[Uri’el-2012]

Just wondering if you or anyone here is familiar with Koenig's book "Eye to Eye: Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel". A friend of mine is very impressed with his equating the natural disasters in the US which occur after we (the US) interferes in the Israeli/Palestinian conflicts. I haven't read the book myself, just wondering if anyone here has, and their comments. Thanks.

The thrust of the book is my point.
I have not read the book,
however I've seen a review
by J.R. Church on Prophesy in the News website.

b'shem Y'shua

[Alouette]

http://www.nkusa.org/

Neturei Karta : Orthodox Jews :: Fred Phelps : Evangelical Christians

[Uri’el-2012]

Javier Solana
High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union

Does he represent the "revived" Roman Empire making peace in the Holy Land?

b'shem Y'shua

[wingman1]

Both are horrid choices.

So you wouldn't vote against Hillary, thus insuring that she gets elected?

[littleleaguemom]

Thank you. It utterly changed our lives. I am sorry more people don't get to share it, but we had the monastery at the Mount of Temptation all to ourselves. We would never have known such a place existed if not for the Palestinian children of my FIL's friends. Our visit was all too brief and we are making plans to take our son out of school again for a longer visit; he is a senior already accepted to college so we can do this.

To all of you on FR, I urge: take yourselves and your children to the Holy Land! And open your minds and hearts to all the ancient peoples who are also loved by the same God. This is where Abraham, Moses and Jesus walked...and Jesus will soon come again bringing peace to all the Earth.