THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 5, 1996 TAG: 9610050011
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A14 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: 56 lines
Nothing of substance seemingly was achieved in two days of intensive discussions in Washington about how to breathe life into the savagely wounded Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
But at least the summit meeting at the White House between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat promises - promises - to restart, tomorrow, negotiations between the parties that have been at a standstill since Netanyahu won office last spring.
President Clinton acknowledged in his Wednesday-afternoon announcement at the end of the summit meeting that Netanyahu and Arafat had failed to bridge any of the differences between Israel and the Palestinians that had ignited murderous violence on the West Bank and in Gaza last week.
However disappointing the summit sessions' outcome, if he had not summoned Netanyahu and Arafat to the United States to explore paths to a fruitful accommodation, Clinton would have been fiercely - and rightly - faulted for caring more about his re-election campaign than about exercising critically needed statesmanship in an effort to save the peace process and to avert further bloody clashes between Israelis and Palestinians.
Predictably, he was criticized anyway. Having brought Netanyahu and Arafat together, Clinton was derided by Republican presidential-nominee Bob Dole for staging a ``photo op'' peace parley. But on the scale of risks invited by anyone sponsoring Middle East peacemaking, the Dole dig doesn't register. Assassination is a not uncommon fate of strivers for peace between Arabs and Jews. The late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, slain by a right-wing Jewish extremist, is the latest notable martyr in a long line that includes Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Count Bernadotte.
Terrorist enemies of peace between Palestinians and Israelis prompted a majority of Israel's voters to elevate hard-liner Netanyahu to the prime ministership.
Understandably unnerved by terrorist violence, a majority of Israelis looked to Netanyahu to press Arafat and his armed minions to root out terrorists swimming in the sea of Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza. Who could blame those Israelis who judged that peace without security is not real peace?
But Netanyahu's tough stance toward the Palestinians and resistance to face-to-face dealings with Arafat contributed to the explosive clashes last week that left scores of Palestinians and Israelis dead and hundreds more wounded and sharply increased tensions.
If - for there's no guarantee, heaven knows - Clinton's initiative leads to progress in the peace process, millions in the Middle East and beyond will be grateful. If Arafat can meet Netanyahu's demand for effective restraints on anti-Israel terrorism, peace with security, justice and freedom for both Israelis and Palestinians will become a realistic prospect again.
But the terrorist virus is ineradicable, ever threatening to trigger death, destruction, chaos despite the best efforts of peacemakers. Hope that Netanyahu and Arafat bring their best efforts to the bargaining promised in Washington.
A promise to bargain by CNB