Hugely anticipated, and reportedly revised no fewer than 35 times, the US Secretary of State Colin Powell's speech on the future of the Middle East left both Israelis and Palestinians distinctly underwhelmed yesterday.
Israel's Foreign Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, and the Palestinian Regional Co-operation Minister, Mr Nabil Sha'ath, diplomatically professed themselves broadly pleased with the address, which included few, if any, surprises. But Mr Saeb Erekat, the senior Palestinian negotiator, lamented that Mr Powell had neither set the "clock ticking" toward the implementation of peace proposals, nor set a "definite date" for the resumption of substantive negotiations.
That very vagueness came as something of a relief for Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon. Aides to Mr. Sharon noted that while Mr Powell had reiterated US support for Palestinian statehood and called for an end to the Israeli occupation and to all settlement activity, he had conditioned all progress on an unlikely complete intifada ceasefire and the cessation of "terror and violence." Mr Powell made no public call for Israel to end its demand for seven days of quiet as a precondition for renewed peace talks; members of a European Union delegation, visiting the region on Sunday, had been firmly rebuffed by Mr Sharon when they raised the idea of abandoning that demand.
Underlining the dissonance between the bitter daily reality here and Mr Powell's vision of retired Marine General Anthony Zinni staying in the Middle East until white smoke emerged from the umpteenth round of "marathon" ceasefire talks, further violence was unfolding even as the Secretary delivered his address at the University of Louisville: Israel television reported that Israeli troops had shot dead a Palestinian gunman in the West Bank.
Earlier, a senior Hamas militant, alleged to have murdered two soldiers, was seized by Israeli troops in Gaza, two Palestinian policemen were killed north of Gaza City and three Israelis were injured in a Palestinian shooting attack near a West Bank settlement. Israeli soldiers were reported to have shot dead a Palestinian and wounded another near Nablus last night. In the case of the two policemen, Israeli officials said they had been intercepted en route to a raid on a settlement; Palestinian officials said the pair were injured by Israeli tank fire and then shot dead by soldiers.
Arguably the key message in Mr Powell's speech was that the Bush Administration, having initially attempted to stay out of the thankless Middle East peacemaking business, is now about to get deeply involved. But as Israeli and Palestinian officials alike noted, the two men Mr Powell said he would be dispatching to the region next week hardly carry the weight to succeed where so many distinguished predecessors have failed: William Burns, a mid-level State Department official, has participated in attempts at shuttle diplomacy to no discernable effect, while Mr Zinni, described by Mr Powell as his new "senior adviser", cannot boast even that kind of experience.