WASHINGTON, July 30 (By Suleiman Wali for RIA Novosti) – For decades, a lasting Mideast peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians has remained a nagging thorn in American politics.
On Tuesday, as the latest round of negotiations started in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry set a nine-month timetable for reaching an agreement that would lead to the creation of a Palestinian state.
Some analysts call this fresh effort futile and point to several past summits as examples of repeated diplomatic failures.
Whether the Obama administration’s initiative works or not remains to be seen, but what has been clear from experience is that, often, the photos from these meetings outlast the agreements made between the parties.
Here is a look back at several American-led Mideast peace summits and some of the iconic photos that they’ve produced.
Washington, September 2010: US President Barack Obama is flanked by (left to right) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House in Washington. The deals negotiated in Obama’s first Mideast peace conference didn’t last, and neither did Mubarak’s presidency. He would be ousted during the Egyptian revolution less than a year later.
Credit: Tim Sloan, AFP
Maryland (Annapolis Conference), November 2007: US President George W. Bush clasps hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. This was the first time both the Israelis and Palestinians agreed that any Mideast peace plan would involve a two-state solution.
Credit: Saul Loeb, AFP
Jordan (Red Sea Summit), June 2003: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as US President George W. Bush looks on after a press conference in Aqaba, Jordan. This was Abbas’ first peace summit as the new Palestinian leader after Yasser Arafat ceded his post to him. It was also Ariel Sharon’s last. The Israeli prime minister suffered a stroke in 2006 that has left him in a vegetative state.
Credit: Saul Loeb, AFP
Maryland (Camp David Summit), July 2000: After a playful back-and-forth over who would enter through the doorway first, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, right, pushes in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as US President Bill Clinton makes way at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland. Many analysts have said that this summit was the closest the Mideast adversaries came to a deal. It fell apart after the two sides were unable to agree on a formula to share Jerusalem and how to address the rights of Palestinian refugees.
Credit: Stephen Jaffe, AFP
Maryland (Wye River Summit), October 1998: Ill with cancer, Jordan’s King Hussein looks on as Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, US President Bill Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sign an agreement that laid down basic steps toward a peace deal. Hussein would die from his illness four months later.
Credit: Knesset.gov
Washington (Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty), July 1994: Jordan’s King Hussein shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin at the White House as US President Bill Clinton looks on. Jordan became the second Arab nation to normalize relations with Israel. A little more than a year later, Rabin would be assassinated by a Jewish extremist.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Washington (Oslo Accords Signing), September 1993: Gently coaxed by US President Bill Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat—formerly sworn enemies—shake hands at the White House. Arafat and Rabin were later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts in the negotiations.
Credit: Wikimedia Commons
Washington (Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty), March 1979: Following 13 days of secret negotiations at the presidential retreat in Camp David, Maryland, months earlier, US President Jimmy Carter, middle, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat, left, and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, on the right, signed the pivotal Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty at the White House. The agreement earned Sadat and Begin the Nobel Peace Prize.
Credit: White House
