At the end of a summit at Sharm-el-Sheikh organized by
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Palestinian Authority
President Mahmoud Abbas declared, "We have agreed with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon to cease all acts of violence against
the Israelis and the Palestinians wherever they are."
"Peace means the establishment of a democratic Palestinian
state alongside Israel," he added.
Speaking just a few moments later, Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon announced an agreement to end more than four years of
hostilities between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Today we are moving toward goal of peaceful, dignified,
quiet lives for all nations in the Middle East," Sharon said
at the close of a day-long summit in the Red Sea resort
town.
The Palestinians will end all acts of violence, and Israel
will halt all military action against the Palestinians,
Sharon said.
"Israel intends to honor Palestinians' right to live in
independence and dignity," he added, and called on all those
present to "declare that violence won't be allowed to murder
hope."
Speaking earlier, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told
reporters that he welcomes the "determination and
willingness" of both sides.
"We have seen today a positive step... the determination and
willingness [of Israel and the Palestinian Authority] to work
together seriously and sincerely to implement their mutual
obligations, and take required measures to restore
confidence," Mubarak said.
Earlier in the day, the Israeli prime minister met with
Mubarak for the first time since Sharon's election in 2001,
and later met with Jordanian King Abdullah, before his
meeting with Palestinian President Abbas. The success of the
summit was of great personal gratification for President
Mubarak, and he is likely to work hard to make sure that the
promises are carried out.
Israeli media reported that Sharon extended separate
invitations to President Mubarak and to King Abdullah to
visit Israel, and that both accepted the invitations. However
there was no official announcement of either the invitations
or the acceptances.
Following a short delay, Sharon and Abbas held talks.
Pictures showed the two smiling and shaking hands across the
table. The meeting was described by sources close to the
Israeli prime minister as "excellent."
Some press reports said that based on the results of the
summit Egypt will return its ambassador to Tel Aviv. Jordan
may also do so. Both countries withdrew their ambassadors in
November 2002 to protest Israel's handling of the Palestinian
violence.
The announcements by Abbas and Sharon were separate, since
Israel wants to stress that it is not a party to the internal
Palestinian agreements between the Palestinian Authority and
the more extreme terror groups. Israel insists that it is not
enough to stop the violence; that it is essential to
dismantle the terrorist infrastructure that is a threat to
everyone.
So far, although there has been a definite reduction in the
level of violence (though not to zero), Abbas has made no
moves to disarm the terrorists, beyond some significant
public statements that the Palestinian Authority must be the
only body to bear arms in its areas. Already at the 2003
Aqaba Summit, Abbas said that the PA should have a monopoly
on armed force within its territory.
Nonetheless, Sharon has agreed to respond to the Palestinian
quiet with a scaling down of Israeli military activity, as
well as a series of "confidence-building" moves including the
release of 900 Palestinian prisoners, an end to military
actions, the freezing of the hunt for fugitives and the
establishment of a joint committee to deal with the issue,
the gradual transfer of five West Bank towns to Palestinian
security control, and a basket of small-scale but important
humanitarian steps.
"It's a message of hope for the future. Let's turn a new
leaf," said Ra'anan Gissin. Mr. Gissin said that 10
announcements of cease-fires had been followed by a
resumption of violence in the past four years, but he said
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.
Sharon spoke of his determination to carry out the
disengagement plan, but he said that Israel is interested in
coordinating it with the Palestinians. He added that if the
disengagement passes peacefully, it could serve to "jump
start" the road map.
In Israel, police stepped up the alert level throughout the
country on Tuesday morning, due to numerous intelligence
warnings of possible attempts by terrorists to disrupt the
summit with an attack inside Israel.
On Monday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice 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 she appointed Lt. Gen. William E. Ward, deputy
commanding general of the United States Army in Europe, as
senior security coordinator, with wide responsibilities for
overseeing the steps started at Sharm el Sheik and for
supervising the upgrading and reorganizing of Palestinian
security forces.
Among General Ward's roles, American officials said, would be
to monitor violent incidents on both sides, facilitating
Palestinian-Israeli communication over what to do in the face
of imminent attacks and making sure that Israel takes steps
of its own, including withdrawing armed forces from West Bank
population centers.
According to Jerusalem Post reporter Herb Keinon, the
symbols looked auspicious this time, as Israeli flags flew
inside a cluster of Jordanian, Egyptian and Palestinian flags
on the route from the airport to the hotel where the summit
was held. At the ill-fated summit in 2000, Jordanian,
Egyptian, Palestinian and American flags flew, but the
Israeli flag was nowhere to be seen. The Israeli flag was
also noticeably absent from the streets of Aqaba during the
summit there in June 2003.
This time, Sharon insisted on having equal status with
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Jordanian King Abdullah II,
and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas. That wasn't
the case the last time around when Barak came. Security
officials even took away Barak's cell phone when he went into
the main hall, but he went in anyway.
