Taba as Microcosm
Taba as Microcosm Taba—for all its seeming irrelevance to the problems of the West Bank and Gaza—goes a long way, at least for me, in explaining some of the hopelessness I feel. Taba is a little...
...The rest is a beautiful sand beach on the Gulf of Eilat...
...they have also presented their counter-briefs, attacking the briefs of the other side...
...Taba is a little postage stamp of land on the Israel-Sinai border, a mere half square mile...
...Even the good offices of the U.S...
...In lawyer's Latin, a fortiori...
...Five arbitrators must be chosen (including one by each of the parties), evidence presented and a decision rendered...
...As I write, the parties have each presented their briefs and written evidence to the arbitration panel, which sits in Geneva...
...This would meet the interests of both parties—Egypt, that it didn't give up an inch of territory...
...For years the parties attempted to resolve the controversy by direct negotiations, as well as with the help of outside mediators...
...Even more important, there are a host of reasonable compromises available (as there are for the West Bank and Gaza— essentially giving the Arabs self-rule and providing adequately for Israel's security interest—solutions are easy...
...Moreover, a settlement would clearly be better for both parties than a win-or-lose decision by the arbitration panel...
...Consider: • The parties to the controversy are at peace with one another and have full diplomatic relations...
...Roughly, "all the more so...
...Other possibilities and combinations are limited only by one's imagination...
...The arbitration agreement in this case was signed on September 11, 1986...
...H.S...
...My preferred resolution of the Taba controversy is to give Egypt technical sovereignty over the area, but assure Israel complete access...
...The settlement negotiations are also secret, but press reports seem to indicate that only after Israel's firm rejection of any settlement suggestion did Egypt also reject compromise...
...No violence creates counter-pressures to a resolution of the dispute...
...Then, a decision—perhaps by the end of the year...
...In the meantime, the controversy only added its drop of poison to the relationship between Israel and Egypt...
...If such utter intransigence characterizes the parties to the Taba dispute, how much more difficult—hopeless?—will it be to settle the issues involved in the West Bank and Gaza...
...Israel could cede sovereignty to Egypt and take back a long-term, say 99-year, lease, the so-called Hong Kong solution...
...one side will lose— everything...
...Al achat kama v'kama, goes the talmudic dictum...
...Neither party has a historic, emotional attachment to the disputed territory...
...There could be a territorial compromise whereby Israel would retain only the hotel...
...An agreed forum for negotiations is available and is being used...
...The evidence presented to the arbitration panel is secret, so there is no way for outsiders to judge the strength of either side's case...
...Neither party has any population living in the disputed territory...
...It surely does not foster continuing amicable relations...
...No question here about an international conference versus direct negotiations...
...Arbitration, like a lawsuit, takes a long time...
...and Israel, that it retains its practical interest in the hotel...
...Both Egypt and Israel claim Taba under the international boundary defined in the Camp David accords and incorporated into the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty...
...In short, what does Israel—or Egypt— stand to gain by a victory before the arbitration panel...
...And arbitration is also expensive...
...The arbitration agreement provides for a final effort at an unlitigated resolution...
...By comparison with the intractable issues involved in the West Bank and Gaza, Taba is a piece of cake...
...If there were ever an international dispute that cried out for a compromise, this is it...
...That failing, they agreed to settle the matter by arbitration...
...But State Department insiders say Israel's case is not nearly as strong as its negotiators seem to think it is...
...Not even a question about a square table or a round table...
...This is not the only possibility for compromise...
...On it sits only a Sonesta Hotel worth about S35 million and some colorful huts called Nelson's Village where you can sack out or get a bite to eat...
...The United States has quietly suggested a number of compromises, only to have them rejected...
...State Department's top lawyer, former United States District Court Judge Abraham D. Sofaer, have been to no avail...
...getting the parties to accept them is what is difficult...
...That is now the period we're in...
...The next step will be oral arguments before the arbitration panel, as well as site visits...
...After the counter-briefs are filed, three members of the arbitration panel (including the members appointed by each of the parties) are directed to explore with the parties "the possibilities of a settlement of the dispute...
...While technically, 14 boundary pillars are in dispute, the case really turns on the location of one of them, boundary pillar No...
...With all this going for a compromise settlement, the parties have been utterly intransigent...
...One side will win— everything...
...A decision where one side wins and the other loses breeds only anger and resentment, which is as bad for the winner as it is for the loser...
...Neither party has any—let alone a vital—security interest in the disputed territory...
Vol. 13 • May 1988 • No. 3
