israelinsider: Don’t shoot the messenger

Ellis Shuman is israelinsider's Senior Editor. Prior to joining the israelinsider team, he served as webmaster for Yazam. Mr. Shuman was trained in the hospitality industry, and worked in many capacities at the Neve Ilan Hotel and at the Jerusalem Hilton. In addition, Mr. Shuman serves as Israeli Culture Guide for About.com. ellis@israelinsider.com

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Israel to consider Jordanian-Egyptian peace initiative

Don’t shoot the messenger
By Ellis Shuman April 18, 2001

Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdulilah Khatib visited Israel this week, delivering an initiative of peace. Unfortunately, Israeli leaders originally went out of their way to reject the so-called Jordanian-Egyptian proposal before even receiving it. The messenger and the message he delivered deserve more respect and consideration than this.

First, regarding the messenger. Jordan and Egypt are the only two Arab countries to have signed peace treaties with Israel. True, this has been a cold peace, but a cold peace has always been easier to bear than a hot conflict.

The Arab Summit that took place recently in Amman highlighted the moderate leadership roles that Jordan and Egypt have assumed in the Arab world. King Abdullah has the huge shoes of his father to fill, and he has an unique demographic problem at home to avoid. The fear that the Hashemite kingdom could one day fall victim to a restless militant Palestinian population is enough to ensure Jordan's key role in seeking stability in the region.

The Jordanian-Egyptian proposal took its time getting to Israel. It may have been discussed at the Arab Summit and certainly was a topic in the White House when Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah paid their initial courtesy calls on President George W. Bush. Though the proposal had yet to be presented to Israeli diplomats it gained the notoriety of being classified as a "non-starter" proposition.

Prime Minister Sharon's advisor Raanan Gissin has been outspoken in condemning the Jordanian-Egyptian proposal, saying that in its present form "it would go nowhere." According to Gissin, "Sharon will not fall into the trap of beginning negotiations while there has not yet been a cessation of the shooting."

Instead of assuming that the Jordanian-Egyptian proposal is a "trap," Prime Minister Sharon should welcome the initiative and look for ways to accept it. Many of the items in the plan, in slightly different wording, were previously accepted and signed by Israel at Sharm el-Sheikh. The Prime Minister has stated that he is obligated to fulfill all signed agreements.

Instead of calling the proposal a "non-starter," the Prime Minister should say that he welcomes the Jordanian-Egyptian initiative as a "starter." Quite possibly the proposal, with a few semantic changes, could lead to calls to immediately stop the violence by all regional leaders, including Yasser Arafat, who has called the plan a "very important initiative."

Messengers of Peace should be encouraged in the region. Israel has justified expectations of hoping that the next messengers arriving from Amman and Cairo will be the returning ambassadors to Israel. But more importantly, Israel's government should take the time to give serious consideration to the message now being delivered.

It is in the shared interest of all, the senders and the addressees, to accept messages that suggest ways to restore stability and calm to the region.