Site Presented By
Thursday, Nov 26, 2009
Jimmy Carter's biographer says that Camp David II could give the president an accomplishment that history will notice before the sexual peccadilloes.
Jul 18, 2000 | New York Times columnist William Safire quipped in 1994 that Jimmy Carter was really globetrotting to satisfy a "lust in his heart for a Nobel Prize," hoping to recast his legacy from that of a failed president to a world statesman. That aside has new meaning when applied to President Bill Clinton's current attempt to broker a Middle East Peace accord at Camp David, one that would almost guarantee him the coveted honor. Tens of thousands in Tel Aviv may be chanting "Jerusalem is not for sale!" but for a U.S. president obsessed with his legacy, an Israeli-Palestinian agreement would mean that the opening paragraph of future textbooks would offer something else besides impeachment and sex scandals.
Only two U.S. presidents have received civilization's most august award: Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 for mediating a conclusion to the Russo-Japanese War, and Woodrow Wilson won in 1919 for his role in overseeing the Versailles treaty, which ended World War I. A technical snafu in Oslo denied Carter his rightful sharing of the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and Egyptian President Anwar Sadat for brokering the Camp David Accords in 1978, and a movement has been underfoot to compensate him for the oversight. Just months after Carter left the White House Sadat, in a forceful letter to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee dated April 11, 1981, nominated his American friend for the honor, citing his "unwavering commitment" to Middle East peace as evidenced at Camp David, and his tireless efforts to find a solution to the Palestinian problem.
Carter, the man most responsible for integrating the term "Camp David" into diplomatic parlance, has been nominated for the award every year since for any number of humanitarian good deeds, but it has thus far eluded him. So now, as the retired Carter sits in Plains, Ga., writing a novel on the Revolutionary War, it is Clinton's turn to broker a peace that could change his legacy status forever from amicable rake to statesman.
With the exception of choosing Camp David as the convocation spot, there is nothing unusual about Clinton trying to orchestrate a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. The U.S. government has taken the lead in trying to achieve peace in the region ever since hostility erupted in 1948. But when Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin met in Oslo in December 1993 to iron out political differences, Clinton stood on the sidelines. The outcome of Oslo, an Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles, stipulated the removal of some Israeli troops from Arab towns in the occupied West Bank and granted Palestinian Authority self-rule by mid-1996. Although the two Middle East leaders signed the declarations at an elaborate White House ceremony on September 3, 1993, the president was more approving spectator than active participant. Compared to the hands-on role Jimmy Carter had played in the Camp David Accords, Clinton was at best a genial facilitator, as evidenced by photos of the famous Arafat-Rabin handshake for peace, which showed a smiling Clinton hovering behind the two leaders.
The Oslo Accords brought Arafat and Rabin Nobel Peace Prizes: The non-essential Clinton, by contrast, was granted a photo-op to display on his study wall. From that moment on, Clinton -- who three months into his presidency had explicitly complained that "foreign policy is not what I came here to do" -- began focusing on a peace plan for both the Israeli-Arab dispute and the civil war in Ireland. And in both areas he achieved some measure of success. He helped Jordan and Israel overcome their differences, clearing the way for signing of a formal peace treaty in October 1994. He also opened a new dimension of the peace process by organizing economic summits with Middle East leaders at Casablanca, Morocco; Amman, Jordan; and Cairo, Egypt - these were encouraging and important new steps toward normalizing relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors.
A cynic who wants to question Clinton's commitment toward achieving an historic breakthrough in the region should consider this: During his first term he dispatched Secretary of State Warren Christopher to Damascus 27 times, hoping to forge a peace treaty between Syria and Israel, but instead catching criticism in the press for his administration's empty-handed efforts.
