[ OUR OPINION ]

Hope emerges for
peace in Middle East

THE ISSUE Israel's Cabinet has endorsed a three-year plan to achieve lasting peace with the Palestinians.

PRESIDENT Bush warned about the "bumpy road" ahead in the effort to achieve lasting peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The first huge bump appears to have been maneuvered with acceptance by both sides of a U.S.-backed proposal called the "road map." More bumps, as large or larger, lie ahead and can be surmounted only with continuing involvement by the United States.

The bump that seems to have been overcome cannot be minimized. Israel had refused to consider withdrawal of its troops from the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which it occupied in the 1967 war, and to dismantle settlement outposts created during the past two years unless Palestinian terrorist attacks were halted. The Palestinians refused to crack down on terrorism until Israelis withdrew from those areas.

The two sides now have agreed to immediately take those parallel steps. And, in an unprecedented move, the Israeli Cabinet has accepted the eventual creation of a sovereign Palestinian state.

Large majorities of both Israelis and Palestinians want a peaceful resolution of a conflict that has persisted for decades. Unfortunately, hard-liners have determined policies on both sides. The climate changed only weeks ago when Yasser Arafat yielded power to the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas. When Israel withdrew from Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza last week following terrorist attacks aimed at derailing peace talks, the possibility for agreement became realistic.

Bush had been severely criticized for declining to become involved in the Middle East conflict early in his administration. The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, changed that posture. The president recently has been forceful in pushing the road map, assuring Israel that it could rely on the United States to "fully and seriously" address Israel's reservations about the plan, according to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The road map envisions a three-phase, three-year timetable for bringing a formal end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with final borders of a Palestinian state and a permanent agreement on the status of Jerusalem, refugees and settlements. That schedule probably is overly ambitious, but further bumps should not cause the opposing sides to veer from the road or to allow Arafat's return.

Timing is important. Even after the action by Israel's Cabinet, a Sharon aide said Israel would make no move until the Palestinians "show progress on the ground" toward ending terrorism. Abbas has been meeting with the Hamas terrorist organization but has been unable to obtain an agreement on a cease-fire. Hamas contends the agreement is intended to trick the militias into disarming.

American pressure must continue to assure that the two sides act simultaneously at this early stage. Further problems can be addressed only after that first bump in the road map can be seen clearly in the rearview mirror.