Rice may submit paper for Middle East peace

J'lem diplomatic officials: Next president to receive parameters for what she thinks needs to be done.

By HERB KEINON
Rice 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
Rice 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will likely present the next US administration with her own parameters for resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said on Tuesday, two days before she arrives for yet another visit to the region. Rice is scheduled to arrive on Thursday for the 24th time as secretary of state, and then go to Sharm e-Sheikh on Sunday for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet. At that meeting, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority negotiator Ahmed Qurei are expected to brief the Quartet representatives on where the negotiations currently stand. According to assessments in Jerusalem, while it was clear that Israel and the Palestinians would not - as Rice had previously hoped - issue a joint document codifying their work, she herself was likely to present a paper summing up the talks and laying out what she thought needed to be done to reach an agreement, similar to the way US president Bill Clinton issued his "Clinton Parameters" before leaving office in January 2001. According to Israeli diplomatic officials, there was also the possibility that US President George W. Bush would put his stamp on this document. US diplomatic officials in Israel said they had no information about any intention by Bush to issue a statement on the Middle East before leaving office in January. One senior diplomatic official in Jerusalem characterized Rice's upcoming visit as one of "stock-taking" a year after the Annapolis Conference. "She understands that she can't reach an agreement, but wants a summary." According to this official, Rice would likely produce a paper documenting where things stood before she took office, where the situation stood now, and what her recommendations were for pushing the process forward. The purpose of such a paper, the official said, would be to leave the next administration with terms of reference so "they won't have to start from scratch." Rice is scheduled to leave Washington on Wednesday, the first day of a two-and-a-half month transition period that will last until the new president is inaugurated on January 20. She is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Thursday. On Thursday evening she will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, followed by a dinner at the home of US Ambassador James Cunningham in Herzliya with Livni. Olmert reiterated on Tuesday that he intended to use every day left in office to continue pushing forward with the diplomatic process, saying that Israel's problems were too pressing to wait. Rice will meet on Friday with the other leading prime ministerial candidates, Likud head Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. She will then go to Ramallah for a meeting with PA officials, and fly to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah. Rice is scheduled to fly back to Israel on Friday evening, and on Saturday morning take a rare trip to Jenin to get a first-hand look at the PA's efforts to assert security control there. In preparation for Rice's visit, Livni met on Tuesday with US Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch. According to Livni's office, she said Israel would "continue to promote the diplomatic process, with the backing of the international community, in a way that ensures its interests. The world must support the process and not expect Israel to take shortcuts that would harm its ability to meet its needs." Also on Tuesday, foreign ministers from the new Mediterranean Union meeting in Marseilles named Israel to fill one of five deputy secretary-general posts for the new organization, launched in July by French President Nicolas Sarkozy, which will be based in Barcelona. In addition to Israel, the three-year rotating deputy secretary general post will be held by the PA, Israel, Greece and Malta. Israel received this post in exchange for dropping its opposition to the Arab League receiving full observer status in the forum. The new grouping brings together EU states with countries from North Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans that border the Mediterranean, as well as Jordan and Mauritania. Israel was represented at the meeting by Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie Whbee. Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said the selection of Israel for the deputy post was significant because the new organization included a number of Arab countries that did not have diplomatic ties with the Jewish state, but who had agreed to work in an organization in which Israel would hold a key position.