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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 19WORLDA Fresh Push for Middle East Peace
Rabin urges Arabs and Israelis alike to give the process a chance
In his debut speech before Israel's parliament as the
country's new Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin suggested that Arab
heads of state come to Jerusalem to talk peace. Actually, Arab
leaders have long had a standing invitation to do that, and Rabin
was just repeating it -- predictably, to no avail. But the Prime
Minister followed up with an extraordinary appeal to his own
countrymen to shake off the siege mentality that until now has
made the concessions required for peace too scary for them to
contemplate. "No longer is it true," Rabin said, "that `the
whole world is against us.' We must overcome the sense of
isolation that has held us in its thrall for almost half a
century."
In so saying, Rabin sought to prepare his people for
meaningful negotiations aimed at establishing Palestinian
self-rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip. For the
first time in a decade, a government exists that appears able
to deliver such a deal. Rabin had originally pledged to form a
centrist administration, but having failed to attract the
ultra-nationalist Tzomet party into his coalition, he wound up
with a left-leaning bloc, the most dovish in Israel's history.
Labor's major alignment partner is Meretz, a constellation of
peacenik organizations that favors allowing the Palestinians to
decide their own fate.
Immediately after hearing Rabin's message, the Bush
Administration moved to reconstruct ties that were badly
strained under Rabin's predecessor, Yitzhak Shamir of the
right-wing Likud party. Bush dispatched Secretary of State James
Baker to meet with the new Israeli administration and arrange
for the next round of regional peace talks, scheduled to take
place in Rome in a month or two. Given Rabin's pledge to slow
construction of settlements in the occupied territories, Israeli
and American officials expressed confidence that Washington
would approve at least part of the $10 billion in loan
guarantees Jerusalem is seeking to help resettle Jewish
immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
Egypt, the only Arab country to recognize Israel, was
upbeat about Rabin's speech -- so much so that President Hosni
Mubarak invited the new Prime Minister to Egypt for a summit
this week. The reaction of the rest of the Arab world, however,
was markedly jaundiced. The cool response in part reflected a
realization that the Arab side is on the spot. When Shamir was
in power, the peace process was a bit of a joke. Now that Israel
appears to be serious about it, the Arab parties are in the
unaccustomed situation of having to get serious about peace
themselves.