Palestinian conflict. The Quartet developed a step-by-step “performance-based
roadmap for peace.” At the request of Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, however,
Bush agreed in December 2002 to withhold official publication of the plan until after
Israeli elections scheduled for late January 2003. Regardless, copies of the document
circulated widely.
Sharon won reelection, but two other developments brought yet another post-
ponement in publication of the road map peace plan. First, under strong international
pressure, Arafat agreed in February to appoint a prime minister to manage the day-
to-day affairs of the Palestinian Authority. His long-time aide, Mahmoud Abbas (also
known as Abu Mazen) ultimately accepted the job after extracting from Arafat what
were supposed to be broad powers. Abbas formally accepted the position on March
19 a few hours before the other major event: the invasion of Iraq by the United States
and a handful of allies. Within three weeks, that invasion had pushed Iraq’s leader,
Saddam Hussein, from power (Iraq War, p. 504).
On April 30, a day after Abbas formed a new government, diplomats formally
handed copies of the document to Abbas and Sharon, and the White House issued a
statement heralding the event and calling on both sides to carry out the responsibili-
ties outlined for them in it. Abbas accepted the road map without any conditions, but
the Israeli cabinet lodged fourteen reservations, some of them serious, when it nar-
rowly approved the document on May 25.
The road map presented a three-phase timeline leading to establishment of a Pales-
tinian state by a deadline vaguely defined as “2004–2005.” Because of the delay in
publication, little time remained for the first phase, scheduled for completion by June
- In that phase, the Palestinian Authority was to act to halt terrorism against Israel,
including negotiating a cease-fire with factions, among them Hamas and Islamic Jihad,
that had carried out most of the suicide bombings and other attacks against Israelis.
For its part, Israel was supposed to withdraw most of the troops that had reoccupied
the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the eruption of violence in late 2000 and to dis-
mantle so-called outposts, which had been built in the West Bank by religious groups
without official government authorization (though often with government collusion).
The road map process began on a modestly hopeful note when on May 17 and
May 29 Abbas and Sharon held their first meetings and agreed on several steps, includ-
ing a limited withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of the Palestinian territories. In
June, Bush made his first personal foray into the region since becoming president more
than two years earlier. On June 3, he met in the Egyptian resort city of Sharm el-
Sheikh with key Arab leaders, who pledged to support the road map process. The next
day, Bush met with Abbas and Sharon at the Jordanian port city of Aqaba for a sunny,
outdoor summit session. Abbas, who had long been opposed to the use of violence,
promised to try to rein in the groups launching attacks on Israelis, and Sharon pledged
to dismantle unauthorized settlements. For his part, Bush said he was “committed” to
the peace process, and he later told reporters that he had warned Abbas and Sharon
that he would “ride herd” on them to fulfill their road map responsibilities.
The first few months of the road map were relatively positive. Aided by a U.S.
diplomatic push, Abbas successfully convinced Palestinian factions to agree to a three-
month cease-fire, starting on June 29. Sharon withdrew the Israeli army from the north-
ern part of the Gaza Strip and ordered the dismantling of several unauthorized settle-
ments, most of which were uninhabited (and some of which were quietly rebuilt later).
ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS 299