Merkel's Mediation Attempts

Many others before her have found it an impossible nut to crack. Former US president Bill Clinton, for example, failed to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict despite his repeated efforts.

Given this record, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's hopes cannot have been high. Nevertheless, she chose to spend her longest official trip abroad yet in the Middle East. Merkel also took a clear message with her. The Middle East peace process has to be revived and both Germany and Europe are prepared to help make it succeed.

The EU has not made any serious attempt to help restart the peace process in the Middle East since the radical Islamic group Hamas won parliamentary elections in the Palestinian territories just over a year ago.

There has also been a change in US policy towards the region under President George W. Bush's administration. Whereas Bill Clinton made numerous attempts to mediate between the two sides, Bush has done little. Whenever he has said or done anything related to the conflict, he has always given his unconditional backing to Israel.

The Iraqi war, the nuclear dispute over uranium enrichment with Iran, the war between Israel and Hizbollah in Lebanon and the infighting between the rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fatah have made the situation all the more difficult.

But these developments have also set alarm bells ringing. People are realizing that finally something must be done. The US has been too biased to be a good choice for the attempt to reboot the peace process. The Europeans have better cards, although they also know full well that nothing will happen if Washington is not on board. The goodwill of the two sides is even more essential.

Angela Merkel's attempts to revive the Middle East Quartet, which is made up of the EU, the US, the UN and Russia, are therefore to be welcomed.

However, the first meeting after months of inactivity showed that the Palestinians must first put their differences aside and agree on a more conciliatory course towards Israel. Europe can do very little here. However, it can support the Egyptians and the Saudis in this endeavour. In this light, the Chancellor's visit to Cairo and Riyadh can be seen as a positive, though modest contribution to the Middle East peace process.

Merkel's contribution has been largely confined to showing that there is an international consensus on the necessity of ending the conflict. But there is still a very long way to go before the peace process can be successfully revived. The problems in Lebanon, the dispute with Iran, and the situation in Iraq were barely touched upon during the Chancellor's trip. Here, too, there is an awful lot to do.