Mideast and the U.S.

Despite the urging of the United Nations and an Easter appeal for peace by the Pope, the Israeli siege of Ramallah -- launched early on Friday after a suicide bomber killed 22 Israelis at the start of Passover -- continues unabated.

Israeli soldiers encircling the headquarters of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat traded gunfire with Palestinians inside, while their colleagues embarked on a massive mission in the city, resulting in the killing of five Palestinian police officers at the British Council building, among other things.

Both sides in the conflict failed to stop the most recent suicide attack in a crowded restaurant in Haifa on Sunday, which killed 15 people and wounded at least 30 others. On Saturday, a suicide bombing in a Tel Aviv restaurant wounded 32 people. And an attack at a crowded Jerusalem supermarket on Friday killed two people and wounded at least 20.

The fighting has now reached a level not seen in many years, and is starting to look more like a war with each passing day. Pope John Paul II used his Easter message on Sunday to denounce the dramatic increase of violence in the Holy Land, and urged religious and political leaders on both sides to work toward a return to the negotiating table.

Needless to say, the continuing violence will never break the impasse in the Middle East conflict. The reason for this is that the Israelis, led by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, have a more immediate interest in achieving a cease-fire rather than a permanent settlement with an enemy they distrust. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have little motive to halt their increasingly effective guerrilla campaign, unless, that is, they are guaranteed concrete talks with the Israelis on the issue of statehood. In short, the Palestinians seek statehood while the Israelis want a cease-fire.

The only alternative is diplomatic maneuvering to bring the two sides to the negotiating table, however slim the chance for success may be. The last 18 months have proven once again that acts of violence, including "all acts of terror, provocation, incitement and destruction", to cite the text of the UN Resolution on Saturday, do not bring either side any nearer to attaining their strategic targets.

Hence, whether one likes it or not, the only power that can bring Israel and Palestine to the negotiating table is the United States, i.e. President George W. Bush. Returning from the Middle East last week, Vice President Dick Cheney admitted that "there isn't anybody but us" to help resolve the conflict.

U.S. participation at critical points has often made a difference in Israeli-Arab conflicts, as attested to by Yom Kippur in 1973, West Beirut in 1982, the Madrid Middle East peace conference in 1991 and the Oslo Accord in 1993.

President Bush's policy of leaving the resolution of the Middle East conflict largely to the two warring sides, therefore, smacks of contempt for former president Bill Clinton's policies. Nor is this policy sustainable, or effective, in serving even the narrow interests of the United States, such as waging an all-out war against international terrorism, including in Iraq.

The only conclusion that we can draw from all of this is that President Bush can no longer afford to be disinclined to intervene in the Middle East by pushing both sides toward the negotiating table.

The U.S. President, however, must realize that negotiations will not bring about a lasting peace in the Middle East without a clear vision of statehood for the Palestinians and security for the Israelis.