Road map for peace
The roadmap for peace or road map for peace (Hebrew: מפת הדרכים Mapa had'rakhim, Arabic: خارطة طريق السلام Khāriṭa ṭarīq as-salāmu) was a plan to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict proposed by the Quartet on the Middle East: the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. The principles of the plan, originally drafted by U.S. Foreign Service Officer Donald Blome, were first outlined by U.S. President George W. Bush in a speech on 24 June 2002, in which he called for an independent Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace.[1][2] A draft version from the Bush administration was published as early as 14 November 2002. The final text was released on 30 April 2003. The process reached a deadlock early in phase I and the plan was never implemented.
Background
The Second Intifada, which started in September 2000, was an escalation of mutual violence. In March 2002, in response to a wave of Palestinian suicide attacks, culminating in the "Passover massacre", Israel launched a major military operation in the West Bank, dubbed Operation Defensive Shield.[3] Virtually the entire Palestinian public administration was destroyed by the Israeli army.[4][5] Israel re-established its full exclusive military control over the West Bank, including Areas A and B, which were intended to be handed over to the Palestinian Authority within the framework of the Oslo II Accord. The army largely destroyed Arafat's Compound in Ramallah, containing the main offices of the PA, and placed President Yasser Arafat under siege.
The US, EU, UN and Russia, who became the Quartet on the Middle East, tried to save the "peace process" with a new plan. This happened against the background of George W. Bush's "War on Terror", which started after the 11 September 2001 attacks and dominated international politics.
Described as a "performance-based and goal-driven roadmap", the Roadmap was built on goals without going into details.[12] It may be summarized as:
However, as a performance-based plan, progress would require and depend upon the good faith efforts of the parties, and their compliance with each of the obligations the Quartet put into the plan. This made the Roadmap different from former peace plans; there was no (unrealistic) time-scheme to reach the goal, a Palestinian state.
The Roadmap was composed of three phases:
Note: A provisional state in Phase II would thus include all existing settlements and exclude East Jerusalem. Although the plan was presented with considerable delay, the original timetable was not adapted.
Sharon's rejection of a settlement freeze
On 12 May 2003, it was reported that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had stated that a settlement freeze, a main Road Map commitment, would be "impossible" due to the need to build new houses for settlers who start families. Ariel Sharon asked, then US Secretary of State, Colin Powell "What do you want, for a pregnant woman to have an abortion just because she is a settler?".[13]
Start and deadlock
Restructuring the Palestinian government
The first step on the Roadmap was the appointment of the first-ever Palestinian prime minister Mahmoud Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen), by Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. The United States and Israel demanded that Arafat be neutralized or sidelined in the Roadmap process, claiming that he had not done enough to stop Palestinian attacks against Israelis while in charge. The United States refused to release the Roadmap until a Palestinian prime minister was in place. Abbas was appointed on 19 March 2003, clearing the way for the release of the Roadmap's details on 30 April 2003.
Hostilities after publication
The publication of the Roadmap could not stop the violence of the Second Intifada. Hamas rejected it, saying that "Abu Mazen is betraying the Palestinian people's struggle and jihad in order to appease the USA and to avoid angering Israel".[13] From 1 to 17 May 2003, 43 Palestinian civilians were killed;[17] from 5 to 17 May, 4 Israeli civilians.[18] After a suicide attack on 18 May, which killed 6 Israelis, the army carried out 35 punitive demolitions of Palestinian homes.[19]
On 27 May 2003, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stated that the "occupation" of Palestinian territories was "a terrible thing for Israel and for the Palestinians" and "can't continue endlessly." Sharon's phraseology prompted shock from many in Israel, leading to a clarification that by "occupation," Sharon meant control of millions of Palestinian lives rather than actual physical occupation of land.
The Route 60 ambush took place on June 20, as Secretary of State Colin Powell was in Jerusalem engaging in peace negotiations.[20]
Summits
President Bush visited the Middle East from 2 to 4 June 2003 for two summits as part of a seven-day overseas trip through Europe and Russia in an attempt to push the Roadmap. On 2 June, Israel freed about 100 Palestinian prisoners before the first summit in Egypt as a sign of goodwill. The list consisted largely of administrative detainees who were due to be released. Subsequent prisoner releases involved members of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, but the government insisted that those slated for release did not have Israeli "blood on their hands." In Egypt on 3 June, President Bush met with the leaders of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain, and with Prime Minister Abbas. The Arab leaders announced their support for the Roadmap and promised to work on cutting off funding to terrorist groups. On 4 June, Bush headed to Jordan to meet directly with Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas.
After Bush left the region violence resumed, threatening to derail the Roadmap plan.[21]
Hudna
On 29 June 2003, a tentative unilateral cease-fire ("hudna" in Arabic) was declared by the Palestinian Authority and four major Palestinian groups.[22][23] Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Hamas announced a joint three-month cease-fire, while Yasser Arafat's Fatah faction declared a six-month truce. The cease-fire was later joined by the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. One condition of maintaining the truce was a demand for the release of prisoners from Israeli jails, which was not part of the Roadmap process. This coincided with a visit to the region by United States National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.
On 1 July 2003, in Jerusalem, Sharon and Abbas held a first-ever ceremonial opening to peace talks, televised live in both Arabic and Hebrew. Both leaders said the violence had gone on too long and that they were committed to the Roadmap for peace. On 2 July, Israeli troops pulled out of Bethlehem and transferred control to Palestinian security forces. The plan required that Palestinian police take over from withdrawing Israeli forces and stop any anti-Israeli militant attacks. At the same time, the U.S. announced a $30 million aid package to the Palestinian Authority to help rebuild infrastructure destroyed by Israeli incursions.
The hudna quickly collapsed. On 3 July, the IDF killed 2 civilians.[17] In an IDF operation to arrest Hamas members, gunfight broke out in which an Israeli soldier and two alleged Hamas militants were killed. A new cycle of violence happened. Hamas responded with a suicide bombing on 12 August, killing one Israeli civilian. Fatah claimed responsibility for a second suicide bombing on 12 August, killing another Israeli citizen. Despite this de facto violation of the hudna, Hamas stated that the cease-fire would continue.
Hostilities then escalated. The Israeli army killed Islamic Jihad's Muhammad Seeder on 14 August 2003; the Jerusalem bus 2 massacre by Hamas and Islamic Jihad on 19 August, killed 23 and wounded 136 people. Israel reacted causing large-scale destruction to Palestinian population centres.[24] On 21 August, Israel assassinated Hamas' political leader Ismail Abu Shanab. Shanab, who supported a two-state solution, strongly opposed suicide bombings and tried to uphold the ceasefire, was regarded as one of Hamas's more moderate and pragmatic leaders.[25][26] Along with Shanab, three other civilians (his two bodyguards and a 74-year-old man) were killed. The following days it continued with a range of further Israeli killing-attacks.[17][24] The assassinations of Seeder and Shanab resulted in Hamas calling off the ceasefire with Israel.[25] International criticism of Israel increased because Israel was widely believed to be unwilling to respect the truce.[25]
Deadlock
In November 2003, the United Nations Security Council endorsed the Roadmap in United Nations Security Council Resolution 1515 which called for an end to all violence including "terrorism, provocation, incitement and destruction". By the end of 2003, the Palestinian Authority had not prevented Palestinian terrorism, and Israel had neither withdrawn from Palestinian areas occupied since 28 September 2000, nor frozen settlement expansion. Thus the requirements of Phase I of the Roadmap were not fulfilled, and the Roadmap has not continued further. It eventually reached deadlock.
Reform of the PA structure
Bush's call for new leaders
The Roadmap was based on president Bush's idea that Palestinian terror was the primary obstacle for an Israeli–Palestinian peace agreement, that the Palestinian authorities (PA) were encouraging terrorism, and that the dismantling of the current Palestinian leadership was a prerequisite for a Palestinian state. In his speech of 24 June 2002, Bush said:
British involvement
Until 2003, British intelligence officer Alastair Crooke played an important role as mediator between Israel and the Palestinians. He realized ceasefires and truces until he was recalled in August 2003.[58]
According to Crooke, the then British Prime Minister Tony Blair played an important role in the development of a 2003 MI6 plan for a wide-ranging crackdown on Hamas. It was a "Palestinian Security Plan", drawn up to implement Phase I of the Roadmap.[59][60] The aim was to stop violent attacks by Hamas, including suicide bombings and the firing of Qassam rockets on South Israel.
The plan also mentioned the Israeli requirements of the Roadmap: "an end to 'deportations, attacks on civilians, confiscation and/or demolition of Palestinian homes and property ... (and) destruction of Palestinian institutions and infrastructure'. To these we would add assassinations and construction of the wall/fence within the Occupied Territories." The document mentions the complaints of the international community about the IDF who destroyed new resources they provided to the Palestinian police force.[60]
In March 2005, MI6 sent a detailed follow-up of the Palestinian Security Plan. This report notes that the NSF (Palestinian National Security Forces), who were assumed to prevent terror, were denied by the Israelis equipment, ammunition en freedom of movement.[61]
After Tony Blair sent British Intelligence officers to the Gaza Strip, in August 2005, to persuade Palestinian terrorists to call a halt to their suicide bomb attacks against Israel, Israel sent a sharp protest to the UK, because it opposed dealing with Hamas.[62]
When in March 2006 Hamas won the parliamentary elections, Israel and the international community did not accept a role for the political arm of Hamas until it renounced violence and recognized Israel.[63][64]
As Hamas attacks and kidnappings continued, many Hamas leaders and politicians were detained by Israel, or assassinated by targeted killing.[65] In June 2007, Hamas took control of Gaza in the Fatah–Hamas battle.
Roadmap in the peace process
In the Sharm el-Sheikh Summit on 8 February 2005, Israelis and Palestinians reconfirmed their commitment to the Roadmap. At the Annapolis Conference on 27 November 2007, both parties again expressed their commitment to the Roadmap. Despite intensive negotiations in the following months, the parties did not reach an agreement. The negotiations ended in September 2008 without result. When the Olmert government started a major assault on Gaza in December 2008 to stop rocket fire into Israel,[66] dubbed Operation Cast Lead, the "peace process" completely collapsed.
After the end of President Bush's term of office in January 2009, the Roadmap fell into the background. The main issues remained: the permanent status of the occupied territories in the West Bank, the ongoing expansion of the settlements, Palestinian terrorism, and the final borders of Israel.