MIDDLE EAST: Israel gained most from the Middle East summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, but a ceasefire could hold until Israelis and Palestinians start to tackle core disputes, Arab commentators said yesterday.
While Arabs close to conservative governments said they saw a slim chance for progress towards a settlement, others said they doubted the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, was ready to take the steps that could lead to a long-term solution.
At Tuesday's summit, Israel and the Palestinian Authority announced separately that attacks would stop. However, Palestinian militant groups, which have carried out most of the attacks on Israelis, said they were not part of the agreement.
The summit did not attempt to tackle the disputes at the root of the conflict, such as the borders of a future Palestinian state or the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab states to sign peace treaties with Israel, took part in the meeting, and promised to help the parties with future talks. They also rewarded Mr Sharon by agreeing to send their ambassadors back to Israel.
"What Sharon obtained in Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday is enough for him ...There is no call for any other gifts," said Mr Abdel Wahhab Badrakhan, deputy editor of the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat.
"Arabs jumping to reward him with normalisation should at least put him in a probation period," he said in an editorial.
"It's totally disappointing, and only one winner emerged from the summit: Sharon. He was able to get a pledge of a halt to resistance operations without giving anything real in return," said Mr Essam Erian, a leading member of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood, which is close to the militant group Hamas.
"Only Sharon was able to benefit from the summit by appearing as a champion of peace ... If that is the criterion of success for the summit, one can say it succeeded. But the Palestinian cause is still stuck," said Mr Salah el-Hadja, chief editor of the Tunisian Arabic daily Assarih.
Mr Taha al-Ameri, a political analyst in Yemen, reflected a widespread view when he said the Sharm el-Sheikh agreements, which covered short-term details such as Palestinian detainees and Israeli withdrawals from some Palestinian towns, had postponed a crisis but not solved it.
"The summit did not bring anything new. The Palestinians had presented concessions at Oslo and Camp David and received nothing in return," he said, referring to previous Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
Some commentators were more hopeful that the change in atmosphere could lead to real change on the ground.
"It is a reversal of a certain trend of deterioration and it gives a strong sense of a new beginning," said Mr Abdel Moneim Said, director of the al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies, a Cairo think tank.
"The first mission is achievable. We have a window of opportunity of a few months ... then the difficulties will come and there could be another setback."
Mr Emad Gad, a senior researcher at the centre, said if the agreements led to changes in the lives of Palestinians, such as an end to checkpoints and Israeli incursions, the militant groups would remain under pressure not to break the truce.
Scepticism about the long-term prospects was widespread, however, despite Mr Sharon's promise that Palestinians would have independence and dignity outside Israeli control.
Palestinians fear that without an end to Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank, their chances of a viable state will rapidly diminish and negotiations will become futile.
In Bahrain, political analyst Mr Abdulaziz Abul said: "Arabs have lost hope with Israel. I don't think the Israelis are ready to make peace with Palestinians and Arabs. There is no concrete political proposal offered by the Israelis. There is no prospect for an amicable solution to the conflict."
- Reuters