WASHINGTON, 3 October — The tragic events of Sept. 11, and President George Bush’s subsequent call on world leaders to join in a campaign against terrorism have the potential to alter local dynamics regarding the Palestinian-Israeli quagmire.

Ambassador Martin Indyk, who recently completed his second tour as US ambassador to Israel and currently serves as senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, spoke Monday at the Washington Institution regarding his view of the current climate in the Middle East.

Indyk’s perspective is timely, in view of yesterday’s news in the Washington Post that the Bush Administration was taking steps to launch a major Middle East peach initiative that would have “held out the prospect of US recognition of a Palestinians state” in a speech that was to be given by Secretary of State Colin Powell. The plans were derailed by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Speaking with obvious expertise on Israeli politics, Indyk said Prime Minister Ariel Sharon tried to build international pressure on Arafat, “he even went to Moscow to try to get Putin to help him, which was followed by a flurry of Middle East envoys.”

Sharon may have called Arafat ‘Osama bin Laden,’ “but never gave up on the option to get Arafat to stop the violence, which is why he sends his son and Shimon Peres to see him,” said Indyk.

Despite public denials, Indyk said that in Israel and the Occupied Territories, “it is commonly understood that Sharon needs the US to make the peace talks. Sharon doesn’t want his arm twisted, but expects us to twist Arafat’s.”

Indyk said that Sharon has accepted the (CIA director George) Tenet’s security plan (for Israel and the Occupied Territories), and the Mitchell Plan — which included a freeze of the settlements after a cooling off period — and he even accepted international observers in Rafah. Indyk said Sharon wanted US troops there, but says he also “tried to explain that we would not do that.”

Following the Sept. 11 tragedies, Indyk said he believes “Sharon thought it was a godsend and that Arafat would be viewed like Osama in the global campaign against terrorism, which, by the way, was Sharon’s idea.”

Indyk said Sharon assumed this would put immense pressure of Arafat, “which led to his misstep, when he said he wouldn’t join the US-led coalition. This was a mistake, at a time when he needed to be seen as a team player and trying to calm things down in the Occupied Territories.

“We are now precisely where we were in June, and at a crucial point. A Mideast agreement won’t hold, if both sides are left to their own devices,” said the former special assistant to the president and senior director for Near East and South Asian affairs on the National Security Council. “They can’t do it, too many loose cannons out there, too little incentives.

“This is where the US must come in, says Indyk. “We need calm there, and need to take away distractions and excuses.”

Indyk says the only solution in US involvement is with a US Special Envoy “who has credibility with Palestine and the trust of Israel.”

“Since Sept. 11, neither side can afford to say no to us. We need a special envoy, we need someone who can spend time out there, who can represent the president and secretary of state. And we need to give him a mandate to implement the Tenet and Mitchell plans, so they will fulfill their obligations they have already agreed to,” said Indyk.

Both sides recognize they can’t resolve the violence without our help, said Indyk.

He noted that the Israel-Palestine issue “is not isolated from the region. Sept. 11 is embedded in the peace process and in the broader struggle that has become embedded in the Islamic world,” said Indyk.

“Arafat’s path to Washington can only be made by implementing what he agreed on,” said Indyk.

“On the other side, the Palestinians have valid rights and grievances which must be resolved on a political process,” added Indyk.

“It’s a real tragedy that so many people, on both sides, their lives are being so completely devastated.”