Clinton pushes to confront `status quo' By Eli Clifton
WASHINGTON - United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton offered
reassurance on Monday to the influential American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC) that the Barack Obama administration's "commitment to
Israel's security and Israel's future is rock solid", while echoing the words
of warning issued by General David Petraeus and Vice President Joe Biden.
Clinton's address at the annual conference of AIPAC - a powerful pro-Israel
lobby group - comes as the US and Israel are entering the third week of one of
the worst bilateral crises since 1975, as the Israeli ambassador, Michael Oren,
reportedly described it on March 13.
Of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Clinton said, "Both sides must confront
the reality that the status quo of the last decade has not
produced long-term security or served their interests. Nor has it served the
interests of the United States."
Clinton's comments reflected the concerns which have aired in recent days by
both members of the administration and the military.
Two weeks ago, Biden, irritated with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's ill-timed announcement of new building construction in East
Jerusalem, reportedly told Netanyahu that Israeli actions which jeopardize the
peace process endanger the security of US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The rare suggestion that Israeli actions may hurt US regional security
interests was reinforced in a more formal venue last week when Petraeus
testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee that, "The enduring
hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct
challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the [region]."
Petraeus continued, "Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and
large-scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments anti-American sentiment,
due to a perception of US favoritism for Israel."
Clinton's AIPAC address on Monday morning offered some of the same criticisms
of Israeli policy while reassuring the crowd of 7,000 that the US would
continue to guarantee Israel's security.
"Especially at that venue making clear those commitments was important. Those
commitments have been voiced in the past and expressed by the vice president in
Israel and it would have been rather eye opening had they not been repeated
today," former Israeli peace negotiator, Daniel Levy, told Inter Press Service.
Levy added, "At the same time, Clinton didn't say that everything is okay. She
didn't paper everything over. She said the status-quo is not sustainable and
that hard choices have to be made."
"New construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank undermines that mutual
trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step towards the
full negotiations that both sides say want and need. And it exposes daylight
between Israel and the United States that others in the region hope to
exploit," said Clinton.
"It undermines America's unique ability to play a role - an essential role - in
the peace process. Our credibility in this process depends on our willingness
to praise both sides when they are courageous, and when we don't agree, to say
so, and say so unequivocally," Clinton continued.
The address' explicit mention of the current tensions emerging after Biden's
visit to the region flew in the face of a request made on Sunday by Howard
Kohr, executive director of AIPAC, that disagreements between the two allies be
handled "privately, as is befitting close allies".
Israel's recent decision to announce the construction of 1,600 new residences
in East Jerusalem caught the Obama administration off-guard and was interpreted
by many as a "slap in the face" of Biden who was beginning a trip of the region
in hope of kick-starting proximity talks.
At the time, Clinton referred to the Israeli announcement as "insulting".
As upset over the Netanyahu government's settlement announcement was voiced by
Biden, Clinton and Petraeus over recent days, AIPAC has been working hard to
put pressures on the Obama administration to curb the criticism of Israel.
"AIPAC calls on the administration to take immediate steps to defuse the
tension with the Jewish State. Israel is America's closest ally in the Middle
East. The foundation of the US-Israel relationship is rooted in America's
fundamental strategic interest, shared democratic values, and a long-time
commitment to peace in the region," read a statement issued early last week.
The tension between the Obama administration and Netanyahu may see some signs
of relaxing this week as Netanyahu was scheduled to meet with Clinton on Monday
and with Obama on Tuesday.
Clinton also took care to emphasize the US commitment to sanctions to keep Iran
from attaining a nuclear weapon. "Our aim is not incremental sanctions, but
sanctions that will bite," she said.
J Street, a lobby group which seeks greater US leadership in ending the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, issued a full-page ad in Monday's New York Times.
"It's time for the Obama administration to seize the opportunity for bold for a
two-state solution on the table with the sustained commitment of the United
States behind them," read the ad.
The ad went on to call on Palestinians to "end incitement to violence" and
urged Israelis to "stop allowing extremist settlers and their sympathizers to
endanger not only the friendship of the United States, but also the very future
of Israel".
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