King Abdullah: A moment of truth is here

 "Now is the time for the United States to lead, to ensure that no more time is wasted. Failing to act means that we will all lose. The status quo is simply untenable. The dangers are too many and too big to ignore. A moment of truth is here, for all who claim to seek peace and justice. It is a time for partnership, courage and action." 

 Today at the Center for Strategic and International Studies I watched King Abdullah of Jordan deliver this strong and powerful message on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Wrapping up a week-long visit to Washington, during which he met with President Obama, Secretary of State Clinton, Middle East special envoy George Mitchell, and many others, Abdullah delivered a strong and clear call for American leadership in pursuit of a two-state solution.  I hope that everyone listens.  

 At the luncheon this afternoon, King Abdullah was forceful on a couple of key points.  Just as I’ve heard from a wide range of Arab officials and commentators over the last few months, Jordan has no interest in another open-ended "peace process."   "We have seen what comes of process without progress," the hallmark of the Oslo experience, and now insist on seeing direct movement towards a final settlement along the well-understood lines.   Abdullah also forcefully rejected "any Israeli effort to substitute Palestinian development for Palestinian independence." He again touted the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, which he pointed out has survived all manner of provocations and rejection over the last seven years. 

 Like most of the Arab officials and commentators I’ve spoken with and read over the last few months, Abdullah praised Obama’s opening outreach and his pledge for a new partnership based on mutual respect.  But he and other Jordanians I talked to also made clear that the time for listening is coming to an end, and now it is time for the U.S. to begin to act. 

 What that means, exactly, remains somewhat unclear.  Thus far I think that the Obama team has been outstanding on its forceful public commitment to a two-state solution and the high priority it has placed on the issue, if less promising in its "West Bank/Fatah only" approach to intra-Palestinian politics.  I would have liked to hear something more directly in public about Jordan’s position on a Palestinian national unity government including Hamas (which during my last trip to Amman seemed to be more flexible than the Egyptian, to say nothing of the American, stance). My sense is that everyone has lost confidence that this is going to happen at this point, but if it doesn’t then what? It isn’t like the Palestinian Authority or Fatah is a strong foundation to build upon… but see this excellent International Crisis Group report for discussion of this point.

 The King’s urgency aims directly at the new Israeli government’s evident intention to stall by pointing to Iran (or now Pakistan!) as excuses for not engaging on the Palestinian track.  I agree with the Obama administration’s public response, that Israel can not hope for effective action on Iran or any other major issue without moving with the Palestinians. From all I’ve heard, the Jordanian-American talks went well but everyone is now waiting to hear from the Netanyahu government.  Hopefully both the Obama team and the Netanyahu team will take the King’s urgency, felt widely across the Arab world,  well into account.