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The Arabs are not tempted

While Saudi Arabia has indicated that it can sit at the same table as Israel if certain conditions are met, it appears unwilling to extend support to other components of the West Asia policy of the United States. Even the ‘positive’ signal the kingdom has sent out does not imply acquiescence in Washington’s approach. It smacks of an attempt to force an issue. The Saudis have, for the first time since 1991, taken the position that they will participate joi ntly with Israel in an international conference — provided several major demands of the Palestinians are on the agenda. These demands are: the right of refugees to return; the final status of Jerusalem; the delineation of borders; and the dismantlement of West Bank settlements. Since there is little chance of Israel agreeing to have these issues placed upfront, the proposed conference looks like a non-starter. Riyadh’s conditional assent might be a diplomatic riposte to Israel’s cold-shouldering of the Arab peace initiative. The kingdom had played a leading role in getting the Palestinian factions, Fatah and Hamas, to form a national unity government, which could have functioned effectively if only Israel had dealt with it reasonably. To the chagrin of the Arab states, the superpower supported the position taken by its main regional ally that there could be no dealings with Islamists. This led to the collapse of the unity government and to the break-up of the Palestinian territory after Hamas drove Fatah out of the Gaza Strip. The Saudis are not just looking for payback. They want all parties involved in settling the Israel-Palestinian dispute to get serious.

Riyadh’s conditional ‘nod’ to the conference plan is small recompense for the energies and resources Washington has recently expended to woo the Arab world. A tour of the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates was part of the effort. Washington has also promised a defence assistance package of $20 billion for the Gulf Cooperation Council member-states, to be delivered over the next decade. The offer has failed to tempt the GCC countries into acquiescing in the Bush administration’s policies vis-a-vis Iraq and Iran. The Sunni rulers of the Arabian Peninsula emirates tend to distrust an Iraqi government dominated by Shia parties. They believe the U.S. is not doing anything like enough to press Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki to be more even-handed. In addition, this bloc of Sunni-ruled countries is not in the least eager to get involved in a confrontation with Iran. As far as the Arab world is concerned, Washington faces a sullen lack of cooperation verging on isolation that it has not encountered in a long while.

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