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The secretary of state says Mideast stability is possible with some creativity and resolve.
Rice
JERUSALEM — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice explored opportunities Saturday for a fresh start in the stalled effort at a political compromise between Israel and the Palestinians. At the start of a weeklong trip to the region, she warned that an enduring peace cannot be stamped “made in America.”
Rice said she did not carry a specific plan and she tried to lower expectations for quick changes. Any progress would require political risk-taking from weakened Israeli and Palestinian leaders, and some resolution to escalating divides in the Palestinian ranks.
One idea on the table is a bold stroke — sketching the rough outlines of an eventual Palestinian state even though that day is far off. Other approaches include finding ways to speed up elements of an existing U.S.-backed peace plan.
“This is a very important and challenging time in the Middle East, but a time that I believe does have promise if we exercise our responsibilities with creativity and with resolve,” Rice said before an evening meeting with Israel’s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
Her references were to new strategies and the underlying commitment to freeze the ruling Islamic Palestinian Hamas faction and others she branded extremists, bent on denying peace and democracy to the rest of the Middle East.
“We are determined to resist their efforts, but also to strengthen the hands of those who wish to resist their efforts,” Rice said.