Suitcase diplomacy

Packing the bags and preparing to leave in a huff are familiar and time-honored elements of that peculiar brand of brinkmanship known as Middle Eastern diplomacy. At the first Camp David summit in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was so angered by the perceived intransigence of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin he had his suitcases by the door and a helicopter to the airport en route. The result was the first small but important step in the peace process.

It happened again at Camp David II, but with a twist. The suitcases that may have broken the impasse belonged not to the principals, but to the mediator. After nine grueling days, negotiations between Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak were declared dead and ready for burial until President Clinton, already late for a G- 8 meeting in Japan, loaded his luggage on Air Force One. Instead of returning home empty-handed, the two Middle Eastern leaders decided to stay, to give it one more try. A breakthrough is most unlikely, nor is it necessary. What is necessary, and perhaps achieved, is the recognition by the two leaders that the stakes are too high to ignore. The issues are enormously complex, the history – both recent and ancient – between Israel and its Arab neighbors is ugly, but the prospect of utter failure is too grim to accept.

Lost amid the dire assessment of this meeting is the important point that the intractable issue of Jerusalem, previously a taboo, was at least openly discussed. It is especially crucial that Israel and the Palestinians keep these fragile lines of communication open. Mr. Arafat stands behind his intent to declare a Palestinian state in September.

Whether such a declaration leads to war or continued negotiations between sovereign nations greatly depends upon whether Mr. Arafat and Prime Minister Barak, when they do leave Camp David, pack their bags with anger or with a commitment to meet again.