‘Warrior princess’

Arab-Israeli reconciliation “possible,” says Rice | Jill Nelson

Entering the final stretch of her term as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice is already credited with several diplomatic achievements in the Middle East: She helped win support for the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza and brokered an arrangement to permit Palestinians in and out of the closely monitored territory. Now she is pushing hardest—despite widespread disinterest if not opposition—for a Mideast peace deal that establishes a Palestinian state. Why, after years of sidelining the Arab-Israeli conflict? "I think the secretary is responding to both domestic political pressure and international pressure to show that the administration is actively 'engaged' in the Arab-Israeli conflict," Foundation for the Defense of Democracies President Cliff May told WORLD. "There also are many in the foreign policy establishment who believe that progress in this conflict will lead to progress in Iraq," a linkage May says he has "never been able to understand."