Can Sarkozy trigger changes in Israeli-Arab relations?

by Zhang Yanyang

JERUSALEM, June 24 (Chinese media) -- Is French President

Nicolas Sarkozy able to trigger a revolutionary change in local geopolitics or

will he join the line of dignitaries who failed to leave an imprint on

Israeli-Arab relations?

Freddy Eytan, who heads the Israel-Europe project at

the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, sees Sarkozy's initiative to create a

Mediterranean Union in hopes of fortifying ties with North-African states,

several of which are opposed to Israel's involvement in the union, as a great

initiative for economic cooperation which can serve as a basis for political

stability.

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and

his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy are welcomed by Israel's President Shimon

Peres (2nd R) as they arrive at Tel Aviv airport June 22, 2008.

(Chinese media/Reuters Photo)
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"France's

involvement can help us," Eytan told Chinese media, noting that the Mediterranean union

joining Europe with the Arab states is a good idea.

"I am not sure whether Algeria and Libya will

come...but it is a good idea for economic cooperation," he said, noting it might

also allow for more direct relations with Syria.

"It is important to have an economic project joining

people," he said. "When you have economic cooperation, it is easier to find

common ground politically."

France's President Nicolas Sarkozy (L)

and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (C) arrive for a meeting with Israel's

President Shimon Peres (R) in Jerusalem June 22, 2008.

(Chinese media/AFP Photo)
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Gallery

Eytan's reference to common ground, however,

apparently stops with Jerusalem as he believes Sarkozy's expectations of a "one

capital two state solution," that would divide Jerusalem between Israel and a

Palestinian state is unrealistic.

"No Israeli government, either the left or the right

constituencies, would support a one capital two state solution," Eytan said.

"Any government would be opposed to this formula."

Sarkozy is the first French president to visit Israel

since Francois Mitterand visited in 1982.

In an essay by Dr. Tsilla Herscho, a research

associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies, she points out that

though Sarkozy's warm words of support for Israel appear to laud anew era of

closer Franco-Israeli ties, France continues to "immorally equate acts of terror

with (Israel's) acts of defense."

In his speech during a special session of the Knesset

(parliament) on Monday, Sarkozy called on Israel to end its settlement activity

in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, saying there would be "no peace without a

solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees," a sticking point in

negotiations between the two sides.

France "fiercely demands the removal of checkpoints

which are intended to protect Israeli citizens from acts of Palestinian

terror...and blames Israel for the economic damage incurred by the Palestinian

National Authority (PNA) and for the PNA's failure to establish effective

governance."

Hershco further notes that France's insistence on

viewing Hezbollah not as a terrorist organization but rather an integral part of

Lebanese political life combined with a recent warming in relations with Syria,

believed by Israel to fund Hezbollah, could dim Franco-Israeli relations on the

road.

Professor Gerald Steinberg of Bar Ilan University

brushed aside France's expectations of Israel as articulated by Sarkozy

regarding the return of territories seized in 1967 and Arab refugees as

"relatively empty words," noting that "the visit allows for a dialogue which

involves listening and dealing with the situation at hand."

"Palestinian issues are driven by the Americans, the

outcome of which will not depend on what Europe does," he

said.