MEDIA REACTION - MIDEAST: PROSPECTS FOR ARAB/ISRAELI

UNCLAS SANTIAGO 001708 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR IIP/G/WHA, INR/R/MR, WHA/BSC, WHA/PDA, INR/IAA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: KMDR KPAO OPRC CI SUBJECT: MEDIA REACTION - MIDEAST: PROSPECTS FOR ARAB/ISRAELI ENGAGEMENT ¶1. On October 20, conservative, influential, newspaper-of-record "El Mercurio" (Sat. circ. 173,049) published the following editorial: "US Diplomacy: Back to the Middle East." Quote: ¶2. "It is a surprise that the White House took so long to launch an aggressive diplomacy to try to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflicts.... The war in Iraq, the tension with Iran... and the distancing with Turkey... have forced Bush to retake diplomatic initiative in a conflict that many see as the fire that ignites the anti-U.S. sentiment in the region (because of its indestructible alliance with Israel).... But the possibility to sign a peace treaty before the U.S. election in November 2008 is unlikely. However, surely Bush is willing to do everything possible to become the first president to finally sign it. After the fiasco in Iraq, only an agreement that is perceived as just and that can be implemented promptly will be able to change the image of the Bush administration in the Middle East." URBAN