Rice optimistic about Middle East changes

JERUSALEM – Political change across the Middle East, including a perceptible backlash against terrorism, has opened a window of opportunity to end the decades-old disputes between Israel and the Palestinians, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in an address here Sunday.

In comments to a prestigious gathering of the Saban Forum that included much of Israel’s current political leadership, members of the U.S. Congress, and former Secretary of State James Baker III, Rice spoke of a region that had begun to move in the direction of greater political pluralism. Referring to last Wednesday’s hotel bombings in Amman, Jordan, which claimed more than 50 lives, she noted the wave of public condemnation that included Muslim clerics, private citizens and leaders.

“This is a profound change, and there are others,” she said. “We have hope for peace today because people no longer accept that despotism is the eternal political condition of the Middle East.”

Rice argued that Israel’s recent withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and the acceptance in Israel that an independent, peaceful Palestinian state was essential to Israeli security also created an opportunity for peace. But she also set out conditions for both sides if the long-elusive goal were to be achieved.

“Now, if Palestinians fight terrorism and lawless violence and advance democratic reforms, and if Israel takes no actions to prejudice a final settlement and works to improve the daily lives of Palestinian people, the possibilities of peace is both hopeful and realistic,” she said.

Moments earlier at the same forum, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon underscored Israeli concerns by again criticizing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying he was not acting resolutely enough to rein in Palestinian militants.

Despite Rice’s rhetoric about the importance of change in the region, the reality of relations between the Israelis and Palestinians continues to make even incremental progress a struggle.

Palestinian officials, for example, have aired growing frustration over the failure to conclude accords on Gaza’s border crossings – particularly the Rafah crossing with Egypt, Gaza’s only link to the outside world other than through Israel.

Earlier in the day in Jeddah, Rice inaugurated a new and more intense dialogue with Saudi Arabia meant to better manage what has become an increasingly difficult yet vitally important relationship for both countries. The move establishes formal working groups on issues including counterterrorism, military affairs and energy.