What can Blair achieve?
- 9 Sep 06, 06:06 PM
There is, of course, a connection - beyond the merely flippant - between Tony Blair's political troubles and his efforts to end the troubles of the Middle East. His stance on Israel's war in the Lebanon poured petrol on to the burning embers of resentment at the Iraq war. This will lead many to dismiss this trip as merely a photo opportunity designed, in the provocative words of a Palestinian protest, "to wash Lebanese blood off his hands using Palestinian water".
It is neither fair nor accurate, however, to say that the prime minister has suddenly alighted on the issue of Palestine. I recall his passionate speech to the Labour Party conference soon after 9/11 when he declared that "the kaleidoscope had been shaken" and that the world should be "re-made", starting with bringing justice to the people of Gaza. I travelled to Israel and to Gaza with him then and Mr Blair displayed his characteristic optimism by insisting that there was a real chance of peace.
Many in George Bush's administration credit him with selling the "roadmap" for peace to the president and persuading him to publicly declare his support for a "two state solution".
The last time he was in Israel - in 2004 - the then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon used a joint press conference to declare that withdrawal from Gaza was his first step and not his last.
"So what?" many will reply, with Gaza facing a humanitarian crisis and counting its dead; Israeli citizens frightened to live in large parts of Israel, and Lebanon still counting its dead and measuring the cost of destruction.
His answer will be to try to use his influence with George Bush and the credit he now has with the Israelis to argue - as he did in his recent speech in LA - that solving the Palestinian problem should be their top priority. The prime minister's aims for this trip are modest - to persuade both sides of the need to start to talk again. He will also use his experience in Northern Ireland to insist that this issue needs constant high-level engagement.
There's one intriguing thought which that parallel throws up. Peace in Northern Ireland required the British government to talk to terrorists. It's intriguing to note that Gerry Adams was here last week. Perhaps he's advising Hamas on how he persuaded the British government to talk to Sinn Fein before the IRA disarmed. The Israelis, with British support, currently refuse to engage with the Hamas government and Mr Blair will have no meetings with them here. I'm told that Tony Blair understands that one day politicians like him and later the Israelis will have to engage with those they now refuse to speak to.
