Conflict Blotter

Martin Indyk, twice the US ambassador to Israel, writes in this month’s Foreign Affairs that an international trusteeship for the West Bank and Gaza is the only way out of the current quagmire. He made the same argument in 2003 and sums up that argument at the top of his latest essay:

Despairing that Palestinians could not on their own overcome the dysfunctional governing structure that Yasser Arafat had built, and knowing that Arafat was no longer a reliable partner for peace, I proposed a full-scaleU.S.-led and U.N.-endorsed international intervention to take away control of most of the West Bank and all of Gaza from Arafat and the Israeli army. Those territories were to be held in trust for the Palestinians while the trustees worked with responsible Palestinian partners to create the institutions of a viable, independent state and while final status negotiations between Israel and representative Palestinians defined the state’s final borders. The trusteeship for Palestine would have required an international force of some 10,000 troops — led by special forces — that would have been responsible for maintaining order, dismantling the infrastructure of terror, and rebuilding the Palestinian security forces.

The 2007 version of the trusteeship idea is perhaps better referred to as a “partnership” between the Palestinians and the international community, since the international force would not be replacing the Palestinian government but rather helping the Palestinian president take control of the West Bank as Israel withdraws in stages… If Tony Blair is to have any success in his new job as the Quartet’s Middle East envoy, he will need a game plan like this in his pocket and several thousand international forces ready to back him up.

The future looks pretty grim for the Palestinians and this is an idea that seems to be gaining ground. The Israelis, long reluctant to allow an international force into the equation, are now the idea’s most vocal proponents. It seems unlikely, however, that any country is going to be too eager to take on the assorted militias, clans, and Islamic radicals now on the loose in the Gaza Strip, as Indyk himself points out:

Having pulled out of Gaza unilaterally in August 2005, with indifference to what kind of forces would fill the vacuum, the Israelis have now come to understand the consequences: a failed terrorist state is being established on their border. Reluctant to intervene in Gaza again, they want some dependable party to assume responsibility there and help Abbas regain control. But there are no volunteers for taming a territory now teeming with armed gangs, warlords, and a well-equipped Hamas militia. The U.S. has its hands full in Iraq, NATO is struggling to meet its troop commitments in Afghanistan, and neighboring Egypt has no appetite for becoming Gaza’s policeman.

UPDATE: Just saw this on the wires. Abbas calls for international force too.

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas appealed Friday for the deployment of an international force in Gaza, so the divided Palestinians can hold new elections, and insisted he was determined to isolate the militant Hamas.

“I proposed an international force in Gaza to Sarkozy to ensure the elections can be held peacefully,” Abbas said. “Elections necessitate a certain stability in security.”

Israel, the United Nations and the European Union have all expressed willingness to consider the idea of an international peacekeeping force, though Hamas has rejected it.

This idea is going to keep gathering momentum.