SHARM EL-SHEIKH, 19 May 2008 — US President George W. Bush wrapped up a regional tour yesterday saying peace in the Middle East was possible by the end of the year but that it required “tough sacrifices.”
“I firmly believe that with leadership and courage, we can reach that peace agreement this year... This is a demanding task, and it requires action on all sides,” Bush said at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East.
“Palestinians must fight terror and continue to build the institutions of a free and peaceful society. Israel must make tough sacrifices for peace and ease restrictions on Palestinians.”
At the start of his Mideast trip, Bush gave Israel glowing praise. As it ended yesterday, the president gave the Arab world a stern lecture: Isolate state sponsors of terror and give citizens more freedoms.
“Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail,” Bush said.
The speech, and Bush’s second Mideast trip of the year, came eight months before the end of his presidency, his target date for reaching a sweeping peace agreement that would resolve generations-old grievances and create a Palestinian state.
The president counseled Arab states to “move past their old resentments against Israel” and “invest aggressively” in the Palestinian people, what he views as their role in the process. In contrast, many Arabs think Bush leans too far Israel’s way in the long-running Mideast dispute, and that Washington doesn’t push Israel hard enough to give way on issues that anger Palestinians and stymie a deal.
Bush has tried to counter that by talking more about the Palestinians’ plight while here in Egypt than he did in Israel. He also offered plenty of praise for democratic advances, naming countries like Turkey, Afghanistan, Iraq, Morocco and Jordan.
“The light of liberty is beginning to shine,” he said.
Bush’s address was meant by the White House as the twin to president’s speech Thursday before the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. In that speech, Bush showered Israel with praise, strongly reiterated its right to defend itself and only gently urged leaders to “make the hard choices necessary,” without mention of concrete steps. He did not mention the Palestinians’ plight; he spoke of them only in one sentence saying that Israel’s 120th anniversary — in 2068 — would see it neighboring an independent Palestinian state.
Bush’s National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said that Bush might return for a third, as-yet-unscheduled visit to the region if “there is work for him to advance the peace process.” Hadley made clear, though, that actually establishing an independent Palestine would take years.
“The president never said it would be implemented during his term,” Hadley said. Bush raised the case of jailed Egyptian opposition politician Ayman Nour with President Hosni Mubarak, Hadley said.
