Mideast Peace Process Continues to Advance, State’s Welch Says

26 September 2008

(Assistant secretary cites progress on four tracks)

By Merle D. Kellerhals Jr.
Staff Writer

Washington — Substantial progress has been made and will continue to be made in advancing the Middle East peace process, says Assistant Secretary of State David Welch.

The United States has focused on four tracks to advance the Middle East peace process since the November 2007 Annapolis Conference: supporting the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations; building the institutions of a Palestinian state; improving the conditions on the ground; and maintaining international and regional support for the peace talks, Welch says.

"We have seen significant advances along each of these tracks, and these advances have created an environment in which substantial progress has been made," Welch said in testimony at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing September 25.

"The fact that this environment exists is all the more dramatic given the volatility that wracked the region over much of the last eight years."

Core issues to be resolved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are the final borders of a Palestinian state, the future of Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, Palestinian refugees, water rights and future relations between the two states.

Welch said the ultimate goal of the peace process launched at Annapolis is two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.  "The Annapolis Conference in November 2007 was the first major Middle East peace conference since the Madrid Conference in 1991 and the only high-level, multilateral meeting of its kind ever to be held on American soil," Welch said.

The conference, according to the senior U.S. official, performed three key functions: It laid the foundation for Israelis and Palestinians to work together, focused international support and defined the U.S. role in the peace process.

High-level U.S. engagement on this issue is not based on a false hope or an unrealistic expectation of success, Welch said, but on the belief in the sincerity of the parties' commitment to the negotiations.

Since November 2007, President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have maintained an intense personal support for and focus on the outcome.  Bush last visited the region in May, and Rice has visited Israel and the Palestinian Territories 22 times, with the last coming in August.  Welch told the senators he has held meetings in Washington or in the region more than 40 times since November 2007.

"The political dynamics in the region are often fluid," Welch said.

Welch added that the Annapolis Conference has served another vital function — stimulating momentum for comprehensive peace throughout the region.

"Fourteen Arab countries sat with the prime minister, foreign minister and defense minister of Israel and committed to pursuing a resolution to their long-standing conflict, building on Egypt and Jordan's previously historic steps," Welch said.  "The Arab League continues to reiterate its support for a two-state solution through its promotion of the Arab League [Peace] Initiative."

Syria has begun indirect talks with Israel that are hosted by Turkey, and stability is returning to Lebanon with the inauguration of the National Dialogue and the election of President Michel Sleiman, he added.

The text of Welch's remarks is available on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Web site.