Assess the role of the United States in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Has Essay

Assess the role of the United States in the Arab-Israeli conflict. Has it been a blessing A curse A mixed-bag What, if anything, should change - Essay Example This was supposed to build on the positive steps towards peace of the earlier 1978 Camp David Accords where President Jimmy Carter was able to broker a peace agreement between Egypt and Israel. The Oslo Accords of 1993 between the later assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Yasser Arafat had provided that agreement should be reached on all outstanding issues between the Palestinians and Israeli sides within five years of the implementation of Palestinian autonomy. However, the interim process put in place under Oslo had fulfilled neither Israeli nor Palestinian expectations, and Arafat argued that the summit was premature. But the Americans decided to strongly involve themselves in this process. On July 11, the Camp David 2000 Summit convened, but it ended without an agreement. Everyone said they would continue negotiating, but the impetus was lost. The second intifada changed things, and made the Americans less wary of engaging. President Busy was a lot less interested in the Arab-Israeli conflict that President Clinton. This is more evidence of the sometimes fickle nature of the American government actions in the region. What this conflict needs is sustained attention; it has not received this. Clinton, who promised Arafat that no one would be blamed if the talks failed, did, in fact, blame Arafat after the failure of the talks, stating, "I regret that in 2000 Arafat missed the opportunity to bring that nation into being and pray for the day when the dreams of the Palestinian people for a state and a better life will be realized in a just and lasting peace." The failure to come to an agreement was widely attributed to Yasser Arafat, as he walked away from the table without making a concrete counter-offer and because Arafat did little to quell the series of