![]() This posed the larger question as to whether the United States, Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and a host of Arab states and major powers could create real movement toward peace, and with it, a defeat for what Bush called “the extremists. The Syrians sent a deputy Foreign Minister. Lebanon could only send a Minister of Culture. Hamas put on demonstrations in Gaza and the West Bank. The uninvited - Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran - all cast a shadow. And Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), although Arafat’s one-time confidante, is definitely not the master of Palestinian politics. ![]() Those attending Madrid, however, had their eyes on Yasser Arafat, an acknowledged master of Palestinian politics. The Palestinians, then as now, were divided. In contrast, Ehud Olmert is widely distrusted, lacks a durable party base, and suffers a reputation for dangerous haste (the Lebanon War) and dubious deals. Israel’s then Prime Minister, Yitzchak Shamir, brought a stable coalition, a reputation for modesty, and a tough immobility occasionally punctuated by pragmatism. Bush the father came in the wake of victory over Saddam in Kuwait Bush the son came in the midst of a near defeat in post-Saddam Iraq. ![]() Unlike the last formal relaunch of Arab-Israeli negotiations - Madrid 1991 - this was an assembly of the weak. The Middle East Peace Conference convened by the United States on November 27, 2007, met in a spirit of easily restrained enthusiasm. ![]()
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