Timeline: A Series of Failed Peace Proposals

The Washington Post
January 9, 2008
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/69203

After the unsuccessful Camp David summit held in July 2000, decades-old Palestinian Arab frustrations erupted in a second revolt against Israel. None of the subsequent peace initiatives has been successful, and President Bush is making a visit to the region seeking to give new momentum to the negotiation process during his last year in office.

2000

Camp David: Several efforts to rescue the peace negotiations were launched. But talks at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, in October brought no substantial progress. The outbreak of the second Palestinian uprising in the fall made new efforts more urgent.

2001

May: A committee headed by a former U.S. senator, George Mitchell, a Democrat of Maine, unveils its report, which urges a cease-fire, confidence-building measures, and eventual resumption of negotiations. It also recommends a freeze on Jewish settlements.

Result: Not implemented.

June: CIA Director George Tenet produces a list of recommendations to restart Israeli-Palestinian Arab cooperation on security.

Result: Not implemented.

July: The Bush administration briefly floats a plan to dispatch monitors to assess Israeli and Palestinian Arab efforts toward a cease-fire.

November: Secretary of State Powell, in a major speech, criticizes the Israeli occupation but also calls on Yasser Arafat to crack down on Palestinian Arab gunmen and suicide bombers.

December: Mr. Powell announces that a retired Marine general, Anthony Zinni, will serve as his senior Middle East adviser.

2002

April: General Zinni travels to the region several times to broker a cease-fire. Result: No cease-fire goes into effect.

2003

The road map: America and other international mediators present an initiative called the road map for peace. The long-delayed plan calls for the end of violence and establishment of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.

Result: Despite American efforts to persuade Israeli and Palestinian Arab leaders to implement the road map, little progress is made. Israel begins building a 456-mile-long barrier near its boundary with the West Bank to separate Israelis and Palestinian Arabs. Suicide bombings diminish.

2007

The Annapolis summit: In November, after several visits to the region by Secretary of State Rice, America brings together representatives from Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and 50 other countries and institutions to launch a peace initiative in Annapolis, Md.

Result: Israelis and Palestinian Arabs pledge to begin negotiations based on the road map for a lasting agreement.

2008

As Bush begins his last year in office, he travels to Israel to push his initiative to create a Palestinian state by the end of his term..