Dear Tony, After 10 years spent serving Britain, and while the world was already regretting your leaving front-line politics, you have just accepted a mission which is more complex, even more impossible; the task, effectively, would be enough to discourage anyone.
On top of the seemingly endless conflict between Israel and the Palestinians there is today a stack of hostile factors: the Hamas takeover by force in Gaza, of course, Israel’s domestic political difficulties, the United States wait-and-see policy, Europe’s lack of conviction and, above all, this terrible feeling of impotence, which seems to be taking hold of the whole international community.
In welcoming your decision to accept this mission, we can’t help feeling an improbable optimism. Because we know your courage and your sense of the common good. We recognise a shared failure we can no longer ignore: the “road map” has failed. The status quo which has prevailed since 2000 is leading nowhere, as we know. The overly strict conditions we have habitually imposed as prerequisites for the resumption of the peace process have only made the situation worse.
If we look with fresh eyes, the present situation also offers its share of opportunities. For a start, Hamas’ takeover of Gaza; the risk of civil war in the West Bank, the threats of Palestine’s de facto partition and a return to the pre-1967 Jordanian and Egyptian scenarios may prompt an injection of momentum.
Based on a new dialogue between the Quartet and the Follow-up Group of the Arab League, involving the two parties (Olmert and Abbas), we think it reasonable for there to be four such objectives:
Offer a genuine political solution: this has to involve negotiations without prerequisites on the final status, even if it means acting in successive phases. Embracing the issues of Jerusalem, the refugees and the borders, these negotiations will make it possible to set a shared realistic objective.
Take account of Israel’s need for security. The idea of a robust international force, of the NATO or UN chapter VII type, is worth considering. This force can be viable and secure if it operate alongside a peace plan without taking its place and be based on an inter-Palestinian agreement.
Obtain from Israel concrete and immediate measures to help Mahmoud Abbas. Don’t push Hamas to up the stakes. This means reopening the border between Gaza and Egypt, facilitating movement between Gaza and Israel, and encouraging Saudi Arabia and Egypt, to help get the resumption of the dialogue between Hamas and Fatah.
We are certain that you will be able to deal comprehensively with these problems. Hence the importance of convening an international conference including all the parties to the conflict.
You have, dear Tony, the extraordinary privilege of soon being able to help make a reality of what had until now been only an idea: Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security.
Every day of your mission, you will be able to rely on our unfailing support and commitment.
(Signed by the 10 foreign ministers of the EU’s Mediterranean states, meeting at Portoroz, Slovenia, on July 6)
Guardian