Crisis of confidence in US-Israel ties
By Kaveh L Afrasiabi
NEW YORK - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits Washington on May
18 and, by all indications, for the first time in many decades his White House
trip coincides with a growing crisis of confidence in relations between the
United States and Israel.
Spoiled by eight years of unconditional support by the previous administration
of George W Bush, who was hailed in Israel as the "staunchest pro-Israel US
president" in Israel's 60-year history, the Israeli government must now face
the reality that the US can no longer afford to support its policies against
the Palestinians without suffering serious backlashes against its interests in
the Middle East.
Already, the administration of President Barack Obama has
signaled its determination to end the business-as-usual approach through a
policy speech by Vice President Joseph Biden at the annual conference of the
Jewish lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) last
week. Biden explicitly called for a halt to illegal Jewish settlements, the
dismantling of roadblocks to allow the "free movement" of Palestinians in the
West Bank and more security responsibility in the hands of the Palestinian
Authority.
Also speaking at the AIPAC meeting, Israeli President Shimon Peres said,
"Netanyahu knows history and wants to make history. In our tradition, making
history is making peace, and I'm sure that peace is his priority."
Yet the right-wing Israeli government does not appear willing to do any of the
things suggested by Biden, despite the lip service by Netanyahu on his
"commitment to negotiations".
A clue to the changing tides not entirely to Israel's liking is that even the
usually pro-Israel New York Times in an editorial on May 12 said that such
statements by Netanyahu "ring hollow".
The Israeli daily Ha'aretz last week ran a main story under the headline "Obama
will get tougher on Israel". According to the paper, the US is sending out
strong messages about the need for a Palestinian state and the need to curb
Israel's settlement activity.
About 60,000 Palestinians in Jerusalem are slated to have their homes
destroyed. Israel is also building a subway near a Palestinian mosque,
destroying the mosque in its wake. In the West Bank alone, more than 600
Israeli checkpoints make daily life difficult for the Palestinians. Many
Palestinians, 11,000 to be exact, are in Israeli jails, mostly owing to the
rising tensions due to the illegal expansion of Jewish settlements and the
construction of a separation wall that chews up vast chunks of Palestinian
lands.
In Gaza, on the other hand, life continues to be tough as Israel has refused to
comply with United Nations resolution 1860 calling for open borders to allow
unfettered humanitarian assistance. In March, the international community
pledged US$4.5 billion for Gaza's reconstruction, yet urgently needed
materials, such as cement and glass, are not allowed into the territory due to
Israel's blockade.
Four months after the bloody Gaza conflict, during which 3,800 houses and two
health centers were destroyed and 34,000 homes, 15 hospitals, 41 health-care
centers and 282 schools damaged, only food and medicine is allowed into the
territory.
"The time has come for Israel to fundamentally change its policies in this
regard, as it has repeatedly promised to do, but not yet done," UN secretary
general Ban Ki-moon told the UN Security Council on Monday. He added that
"Palestinians continue to see unacceptable unilateral actions in East Jerusalem
and the remainder of the West Bank, including house demolitions, intensified
settlement activity, settler violence and oppressive restrictions on their
movements".
Noted American peace activist Noam Chomsky has made the observation, "Israel
could have security, normalization of relations and integration into the
region. But it very clearly prefers illegal expansion, conflict and repeated
exercises of violence ..."
As an apparent diversionary tactic, Netanyahu has now linked any progress on
the "two-state" solution to progress in the talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Few people in the international community buy this as anything other than
another Israeli maneuver to deny the Palestinians rights.
According to a report by Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler of Inter Press
Service, Netanyahu aides said his top priority was to get Obama to accept that
before Israel committed to any far-reaching moves with the Palestinians, he had
to be convinced that the Obama dialogue initiative with Iran won't allow Iran
to acquire nuclear weapon capability.
Susan Rice, the US envoy to the UN, has called for re-invigorating the "road
map", the "Annapolis process" and "integrating" the Saudi-led Arab peace plan
into the US's Middle East policy. This is fine talk reminiscent of former
president George W Bush's verbal commitments, yet such words must be backed
with stern actions by the US against Israel. These could include a threat to
cut off US aid to Israel should it refuse to take any tangible steps toward the
establishment of a viable Palestinian state, something for which US envoy
George Mitchell, who has visited the region three times already, has reportedly
called.
Pope Benedict XVI, during his ongoing "pilgrimage of peace" to the Holy Land,
has also called for a Palestinian homeland.
But the fact that the present US initiative is inherently insufficient can be
surmised from the apt criticisms of the "road map" by Costa Rica's Foreign
Minister Bruno Stagno, who in his speech before the UN Security Council noted
the absence of "final-status parameters" in the present discussions.
"This international community must be committed to reaching a settlement, and
not see it merely as an opportunity for some who are seeking diplomatic muscles
to recover past glories or reap their own rewards, or even as a bill of
exchange to be used in other chess matches ... This false logic has offered too
many opportunities for those who live off intolerance and violence to sabotage
the peace," Stagno stated.
It boils down to whether the Israeli government will amend its policies and, if
not, whether the US will ignore the deepening Middle East crisis caused by such
policies and continue to support Israel.
In light of Israel's considerable clout in Washington, and despite feeble White
House rhetoric of a get-tough policy on Israel, it is most likely that
Netanyahu and Obama, regardless of the chillier winds, will continue down the
same path. Simply put, the White House is not ready or prepared to use the
leverage of sanctions and the threat of cutting US assistance to Israel.
Kaveh L Afrasiabi, PhD, is the author of After Khomeini: New
Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (Westview Press) . For his Wikipedia entry,
click here. His
latest book,
Reading In Iran Foreign Policy After September 11 (BookSurge Publishing
, October 23, 2008) is now available.
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