Summit Watch: Slowly Moving Ahead

October 19, 2007

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad (AP)

Date: No official date has been fixed for the summit. Announced by President Bush on July 16, the summit was originally expected to be held in October. Later reports indicated it was tentatively scheduled for November 15, though Secretary Rice this week stated that it will take place sometime in the next two months.

Location: The location for the summit will be the United States Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD.

Attendees: There have been no invitations issued, but on September 23, Secretary Rice said that it would be “natural” to invite the members of the Arab League follow-up committee, including Syria. However, Syria has said that they will not attend unless the Golan Heights are on the table. The Arab League is asking for guarantees and a timetable for peace talks before they commit to attending.

Agenda: The State Department has yet to specify the official agenda, however, following his October 16 meeting with Secretary Rice, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Israel will address core issues, including refugees, Jerusalem, and final borders, in a joint statement with the Palestinians. Previously, Israel had preferred that such a document remain vague, leading to Palestinian warnings that they would not attend the talks without a specific document.

U.S. Preparation:
Secretary Rice has made three trips (in July, September, and October) to the Middle East since announcement of the conference.

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley will travel to the region next week, followed by Secretary Rice the week after.

Bilateral Israeli-Palestinian Preparation:
Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas have met regularly to prepare for the for the conference, usually in private. While Olmert has said these talks had not led to any breakthroughs, there have been signs of possible compromise on final status issues. For example, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon has included division of Jerusalem in his political agenda and suggested that the capitol will be discussed at Annapolis.

The Israelis and Palestinians have formed their negotiating teams to craft the joint declaration for presentation at the summit. The Israeli team will be led by foreign minister Tzipi Livni and the Palestinian team by former Palestinian Authority prime minister Ahmed Qurei.

Americans for Peace Now Annapolis Countdown

Guide to Preparing International Summits



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