The Unique Role of Moderate Arab States

Although key Arab states such as Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia have an important role to play in any solution to the current Arab-Israeli conflict, all parties understand that the United States, the European Union (EU), and the United Nations (UN) must ultimately lead mediation. Israeli participation in any solution demands it. For this reason, moderate Arab regimes caught in the crossfire of the conflict, such as Egypt, have issued pleas to the international community and to the United States in particular, asking them to use their influence to diffuse tensions between the belligerent parties. Such efforts must address both the security and the political issues that lie at the root of the conflict and must produce a final deal that fairly accommodates the aspirations of both Palestinians and Israelis. To this end, provided Egypt has the support of regional governments and the international community, it is ready to take whatever steps are required to end hostilities and to advance a just and final peace agreement that might end this historical conflict once and for all.

Thus far, Egypt has experienced partial success in its role as mediator in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by defusing several crises, preventing certain incidents from becoming armed struggles, and bringing the two parties and President Bill Clinton to the negotiating table in Taba in January 2001. Husni Mubarak's frequent visits to Europe and the United States, his meetings in Cairo with U.S. and other delegations, and his constant communication with key Arab leaders testify to Egypt's commitment to its role as regional moderator in the Middle East.

Egypt relies on a network of relations with all interested parties and believes it can work hand in hand with the United States if the latter assumes the role of mediator. Egypt has unrestricted relations with the Arab countries, diplomatic relations with Israel, healthy international relations with EU states and the UN, and a distinguished relationship with the United States. In short, Egypt is an active and efficient member of the Middle East with good relations with most countries all over the world. By utilizing this network, Cairo might be able to bring the two sides together and help them overcome the obstacles that may arise on the path toward a settlement.

Recently, the Egyptian Council for Foreign Affairs held a meeting in Cairo with the steering committee of the International Crisis Group, a newly formed international group examining and trying to find solutions to chronic problems that may disturb world peace, to promote a new plan that could be presented to the Israelis and the Palestinians. ¹ Egypt proposes to shorten the current peace process by presenting a package deal that concerned international and regional parties could utilize, bypassing step-by-step solutions and interim agreements, to achieve the final objective of peace and end the conflict conclusively. Once the region has reached this objective, it will be ready for the fruitful phase of cooperation, development, and advancement.

Understanding Mediation's Limits

Any discussion of mediation, of course, risks attaching too much importance to the role of mediator because the achievement of a lasting peace in the Middle East is ultimately up to the parties directly involved. Nevertheless, examining the strengths and limitations of a mediator's role is useful to ensure that no avenue to achieve peace in the region is left unexplored.

Palestinians have long recognized the potential of outside mediators to secure positive outcomes in the region—the way Clinton began to achieve a peace settlement but did not have time to bring it to its conclusion. Palestinians made the initiation and use of mediation a primary goal of their agenda. Until recently, however, the Israeli government spurned the idea, and the Bush administration ignored it. The United States and the EU are now seriously considering the form that a mediator's role might take. Egypt, along with other leading Arab states, has expressed its support for third-party...