Back in the 1990’s, at the time of the Israel Jordan Peace Treaty, a common saying was that both sides were so enthusiastic to sign the treaty, so that all what was needed was to find a pen.

Unfortunately, these times have long gone and shall return no more; walls of mistrust separate countries from each other as well as political movements within each country. That is why we peace veterans must act quickly in order to rejuvenate the dying peace process. We must be firm and assertive, otherwise both sides will soon lose interest, due to ever growing internal problems.

Ever since Rabin’s murder in 1995, the Middle East, slowly but surely, deteriorates into a turbulence of internal and regional conflicts. On the Palestinian side, the rift between the official Palestinian Authority and Hamas has de facto created two Palestinian entities, separated by geography, political overview and religious fervor. Due to political failures in important Arab countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the regimes struggle against strengthening extreme Islamic movements. Lebanon is under the threat of civil war between Hezbollah and the pro-Western Hariri regime. Israel itself is not immune to political radicalization: in recent years, the Israeli society is being torn apart to atomistic particles divided along political, religious and economic lines. As time goes by, these groups find it harder to communicate with each other.

Needless to say, the last decade has shown a violence ridden Middle East: the Second Intifada, the Israeli military actions in South Lebanon and the Gaza Strip and the Marmara incident, along with terror attacks in Jordan and Egypt, have reduced mutual trust between neighboring states to a minimum.

On the other hand, the most senior officials in the Middle East do understand the perils of political gridlock in the region. Both Israeli and Arab leaders stand united, though only in secrecy, against two interrelated threats: nuclear Iran and the cross-national violent extreme Islamist movements such as Al-Qaeda. The leaders of the region are realistic enough to understand that the huge share of annual budget devoted to the ministries of security and defense, prevents them from investing in education, health and the creation of jobs. That is, they know that stagnation will eventually lead to deterioration.

The Arab League has begun to get the message through in its 2002 Arab Peace Initiative, later reassured as the Saudi Initiative of 2007. The initiative suggests establishing normal relations with the entire Arab world in return for Israeli full withdrawal to 1967 lines and the establishment of a Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as the capital. The potential impact of the initiative is invaluable, both symbolically and practically.

However, the Arab leadership has basically failed to “market” the importance of the initiative to the future of the Middle East both to the Israeli public and the public in the various Arab countries.

As we can see, two contradictory forces are currently shaping the Middle East: quiet understanding between regional leaders on the one hand, and an internal turmoil on the other hand.

The timing for action is crucial due to the third force: the yet-active involvement of the US in the efforts to restart the peace process in the Middle East. As of today, President Obama is devoted to succeed where his predecessors had failed. But not for long: bothered by shaken economy, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and the North Korean unexpected policies, one cannot estimate how much more can the Obama administration focus on the Middle East.

Hence, as long as the US still plays a dominant rule, all sides must agree that: a. they do want peace in our time, b. the Arab Peace Initiative is a good starting point. Only by doing so, we can achieve a real momentum in order to – at least – move forward in the efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East.