Analysis / The name of the game: lowered expectations
By Avi Issacharoff
WASHINGTON - After years of bitter experience, only augmented by jet-lag, Palestinians have learned to lower expectations if they are to have any success in political talks. So now, even an unpleasant diplomatic "incident" at the Israeli delegation's Mandarin Orient Hotel here didn't faze the Palestinian team.
Ahmad Qureia (Abu Ala), Saeb Erekat and Akram Haniyeh arrived at the Mandarin lobby Sunday evening for a meeting with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her team. But apart from members of the media, nobody was waiting for them. The Palestinian officials looked at each other in confusion. A few minutes later someone from the Israeli team apparently remembered to come and take the Palestinians to the meeting. Qureia didn't even threaten to leave.
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The Palestinian Authority's (PA) main message in Washington is that they have no illusions about the Annapolis conference. No joint document is likely to be issued, not even a general outline of an anticipated final-status arrangement between the two parties. Nabil Shaath, who joined the Palestinian public-relations team though he has not been involved in decision-making for five years, said "when there are no false expectations, there will be no disappointments."
He described what the PA would consider as a "great success" in Annapolis, but in the same breath said that different results would not be a failure.
"First, there must be a comprehensive commitment by all participating parties to begin negotiations on the final-status arrangement immediately after the summit. Second, Israel must implement such commitments as suspending settlements and releasing prisoners. Third, there must be a timetable for negotiations and a mechanism for supervising the process," he said.
Asked what the PA would consider the minimum results for a success he said "the first clause - beginning the negotiations - is a must from our point of view. All the rest - is whatever we can get."
Some of the Palestinians' goals are as good as achieved, such as resumption of the final-status talks. Even without a joint statement at the summit's end, opening the talks on establishing a Palestinian state would continue weakening Hamas in the West Bank and Gaza. The PA would be able to show the Palestinian public pictures of the world's leaders holding hands, united in the goal to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and provide the Palestinians with a political horizon.
But Hamas, which for the moment is losing relevance, will return to center stage - whether by means of terror attacks or the next time the final-status negotiations strike a snag.
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