Is Mideast Peace Conference a Mistake?
By Chris Mitchell
CBN News- Jerusalem Bureau
November 13, 2007
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - The United States is expected to send out invitations soon for the upcoming Mideast conference in Annapolis. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice hopes the conference will be a breakthrough for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
CBN News recently sat down with one of Israel's most experienced diplomats, Zalman Shoval, to get his assessment of the conference.
Is the U.S. forcing Israel to make a suicidal move? Be sure to listen for Pat Roberston's comments at the end CBN News Reporter Chris Mitchell's report.
"Well, my first assessment is that it's a pity it's happening," Shoval said. "I think Israel made a mistake."
Shoval says international conferences often put Israel at a disadvantage.
"To have a conference where Israel will find itself on one side of the table, I would say totally isolated, with all the Arab states on the other hand on the other side, the European Union, the Russians, the UN. the chance that Israel will get support for some of its basic interests are practically nil," he said.
One international conference, Shoval says, raises expectations for the next. He points to the Madrid Conference in 1991 as an example where Israel was put on the defensive.
"There's the additional danger…that just in order to show that this conference has resulted in some sort of achievement, and that's also America's interest, there will be a proposal to agree on certain principles. These principles may look innocent, but they could work in our disfavor, detrimentally to us in the future," he said.
With expectations so high, Shoval believes the conference might do more harm than good.
"You call it a peace conference everybody should understand that real peace can't come out of that conference," he said. "On the contrary, it could perhaps exacerbate some of the divisions and some of the tensions which are there."
Negotiations prior to the conference also put Jerusalem on the table. Shoval recently joined former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Natan Sharansky to speak out against dividing the city.
"If we were to give into pressure which we are hopefully not going to do, and divide Jerusalem, that is going to be the biggest victory of Islamic fundamentalism not just over Israel but over the free world as well."
Shoval warns that if the Olmert government does attend the conference, its future might be in danger.
He said, "Can the Olmert government survive? If it gives into concrete Arab demands such as we mentioned before, it will not be able to survive."
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