The Honorable Condoleezza Rice
Secretary
U.S. Department of State 

Dear Madam Secretary:

We write to express our support for the progress that the President and you achieved at the recent Annapolis Conference which has led to a pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to achieve a permanent peace settlement by the end of 2008.  The presence and support of nearly all Arab states, notably Saudi Arabia and Syria, were equally significant.  These accomplishments illustrate not only the leaders’ commitment to peace, but also the value of proactive U.S. engagement in the peace process. 

As you know, the road to a final agreement will be difficult and will require a sustained commitment and serious concessions by both parties.  Throughout history, American leadership has played an integral role in the quest for peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors.  The United States will have to remain directly involved and be prepared to play a vigorous and proactive role in helping Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas throughout the final status negotiations.

With this in mind, we respectfully urge you to remain actively engaged in the negotiation and implementation process and be prepared, as necessary, to ask President Bush to be involved, just as he did in the Annapolis Conference.  The appointment of Tony Blair as official Envoy for the Quartet on the Middle East and General Jim Jones as Special Envoy for Middle East Security give the United States and the Quartet greater ability to shape and monitor this process and you should give each of them broad authority to directly engage the parties.

Both Israel and the Palestinian Authority face difficult decisions now to sustain the momentum coming out of Annapolis.  We ask that you urge President Abbas to continue to respect the conditions set forth by the Quartet on the Middle East, most notably, continuing to denounce all terror attacks on Israeli targets both in Israel and the West Bank and unconditionally recognizing the Jewish state of Israel’s right to exist.

President Abbas has courageously recognized the road ahead is a challenging one, and that the Palestinian people will be forced to make concessions in the name of peace.  The United States must continue to support the Abbas government, politically as well as financially, as it works toward a final status agreement with Israel.  Your leadership helped produce a successful Paris donors conference for the Palestinian Authority.  Now, we must ensure that the $7.4 billion in pledges is provided to the PA.  Strengthening the Abbas government through humanitarian and financial assistance remains critical as it confronts Hamas and other extremists.

Prime Minister Olmert has also recognized the obstacles that lie ahead, and has boldly warned the Israeli people to prepare to make difficult compromises in the name of a lasting and permanent peace.  As the only democracy in the Middle East, the United States must remain a steadfast supporter of Israel and its right to defend itself from terrorist threats.  However, as the negotiations toward a final status agreement begin, we also feel it is crucial that Israel take clear steps to improve the living and economic conditions of the Palestinian people as a demonstration of its commitment to a final settlement. 

We urge you to call upon the government of Prime Minister Olmert to abide by Israel’s commitments to the 2002 Roadmap to Peace, including a freeze on the construction of new settlements beyond Israel’s 1967 borders, the dismantling of illegal West Bank settlements and “outposts,” and a reduction of roadblocks and checkpoints in the Palestinian territories to allow increased movement for the Palestinian people and their goods and services.  Expanding economic opportunities and helping to revive the Palestinian private economy, including through the U.S.-Palestinian public-private partnership that you have helped establish, must be a core component of a sustainable peace process.

We recognize the many challenges the lie ahead, and that, ultimately, it is the Israeli and Palestinian people themselves and the regional Arab world who must find the strength to commit to peace; but we also recognize that U.S. leadership and mediation have lead to some of the greatest breakthroughs in Israeli-Arab relations.  Lasting Israeli-Arab peace will ultimately require resumption of Israeli-Syrian negotiations.  We urge you to be prepared to seize opportunities in the coming months to also encourage and support the resumption of these talks.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.