3/23/10

American leadership is once again being challenged in the Middle East.  But this time, it is not Iran, Iraq, or some other predictable actor that is doing the challenging.  This time, it is Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu who is stating, unequivocally, that while he supports American efforts to promote Middle East peace, he rejects American calls for actions that the Obama administration has identified as necessary to move the process forward.  In particular, Netanyahu publicly rejected the Administration's call to stop Israeli settlement construction in East Jerusalem, directly rebuking longstanding American policy and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call for such a move at this week's AIPAC conference.

With the rejection of the Administration's calls, it now appears that the recently-announced proximity talks to be held amongst the U.S., Israel, and the Palestinians are in jeopardy.  The Administration has labored extensively to construct these talks, despite the obvious challenges, and their collapse would be detrimental to Israeli, Palestinian, and American interests.  Yet it is precisely this last point, that American interests are clearly at stake as a result of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, that drives the Obama administration to continue to pursue an agreement.  National security experts, leaders, and history itself are clear on this point - when the United States steps away from this issue, all sides suffer.  Therefore, regardless of Netanyahu's position, and because of the direct interests at stake for American national security, the Obama administration must continue to press for a resolution to this conflict.

Clinton and Netanyahu clash on settlements in East Jerusalem during AIPAC speeches.  Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu each separately addressed audiences yesterday at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference.  As the New York Times reported, "In a speech to a pro-Israel lobbying group, Netanyahu reiterated that Israel had no plans to freeze housing in Jerusalem, the trigger for a recent dispute between Israel and the United States. He rejected the administration's contention that Israel's policies were impeding the peace process. ‘The Jewish people were building Jerusalem 3,000 years, and the Jewish people are building Jerusalem today,' Mr. Netanyahu said to the group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. ‘Jerusalem is not a settlement; it's our capital.'"  

After praising the Israeli government's decision to place a moratorium on residential construction in the West Bank, Secretary Clinton pointed to the longstanding U.S. policy regarding Israeli settlements.  "Like every administration for decades, [we] underscored that the United States does not accept the legitimacy of continued Israeli settlements. As Israel's friend, it is our responsibility to give credit when it is due and to tell the truth when it is needed...New construction in East Jerusalem or the West Bank undermines mutual trust and endangers the proximity talks that are the first step toward the full negotiations that both sides want and need. It exposes daylight between Israel and the United States that others in the region could hope to exploit. And it undermines America's unique ability to play a role-an essential role, I might add-in the peace process. Our credibility in this process depends in part on our willingness to praise both sides when they are courageous, and when we don't agree, to say so, and say so unequivocally."  It is clear from her speech that Secretary Clinton does not view Israeli construction in East Jerusalem as helping to advance the peace process.  [NY Times, 3/22/10. Binyamin Netanyahu via Politico, 3/22/10. Hillary Clinton via Politico, 3/22/10.]

Middle East peace is a core national security interest for the U.S.  Conflict in the Middle East between the Israelis and Palestinians has had serious consequences for U.S. security interests in the region.  At the AIPAC annual conference, Secretary Clinton stated that the continuation of the conflict empowered "rejectionists" in the region, emphasizing that "[a]ll of our regional challenges - confronting the threat posed by Iran, combating violent extremism, promoting democracy and economic opportunity - become harder if rejectionists grow in power and influence."  Clinton's remarks followed testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee by CENTCOM Commander General David Petraeus, in which he explained how U.S. security interests are impacted by the perpetuation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: "The enduring hostilities between Israel and some of its neighbors present distinct challenges to our ability to advance our interests in the AOR [CENTCOM Area of Responsibility]. Israeli-Palestinian tensions often flare into violence and large-scale armed confrontations. The conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the AOR and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaeda and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support. The conflict also gives Iran influence in the Arab world through its clients, Lebanese Hizballah and Hamas."  In addition, when addressing an Israeli audience at Tel Aviv University during his recent visit to Israel, Vice President Biden highlighted the benefits of a solution to the conflict within the context of U.S. - led efforts to check the Iranian threat, a key American security objective. According to Biden, pursuit of an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal "denies Tehran the opportunity to exploit the differences between Israelis and Palestinians, and Israelis and the Arab world, and to distract the many countries that stand united against Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons and the support of terrorism." [Secretary Clinton, 3/22/10. General David Petraeus, 3/16/10. Vice President Joseph Biden, 3/11/10]

American involvement has historically been an essential ingredient in Arab-Israeli peacemaking. The United States has long played a central role in facilitating Arab-Israeli peacemaking, often being relied upon by all sides to carry messages and bridge differences.  Several of the most important diplomatic breakthroughs, including the Camp David Accords that created Israel-Egyptian peace, as well as the disengagement accords of the mid 1970s, all took place amidst robust U.S. engagement.   In these cases, American Presidents, Secretaries of State, and Special Envoys all spent weeks shuttling around the region, helping bring about progress.  It is also clear that when American administrations disengage from such involvement, serious spikes in violence and deteriorating prospects for peace occur.  Netanyahu's admonition at AIPAC that "... the United States can help the parties solve their problems but it cannot solve the problems for the parties. Peace cannot be imposed from the outside. It can only come through direct negotiations in which we develop mutual trust..." misses the point, which is that active American involvement is an essential ingredient in creating trust and fostering dialogue.  After meeting with Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian officials earlier this year, Congressman Bob Filner (D-CA) confirmed that point when he wrote that "Over and over, we heard that U.S. leadership is vital to a diplomatic solution."  National security experts Richard Haas and Martin Indyk further explained in their Foreign Affairs piece that, "the vast majority of Middle Eastern states still look to the United States as the ultimate guarantor of their security and the power most able to help them achieve their objectives."  History shows that constructive American engagement is a key ingredient for spurring progress, while episodic or superficial engagement leads to deterioration and increased violence. [Rep. Bob Filner, 3/15/10. Foreign Affairs, January/February 2009]

What We're Reading

Chinese internet users were left with less information from Google on Tuesday as their government appeared to apply an unusually strict censorship regime to the U.S. search engine following Google's move to stop self-censorship in China.

U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Tuesday at the White House - his first meeting with the Israeli leader since the recent spat over Israel's announcement of new housing construction for East Jerusalem.

Britain plans to expel an Israeli diplomat over the use of forged UK passports by the killers of a senior Hamas official in January.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai is holding peace talks with a top envoy from one of the three main insurgent groups, but analysts caution that any deal may not dramatically change the course of the war.

Nearly three months after an al-Qaeda double agent obliterated an important CIA team in Afghanistan, veteran spies remain agitated over the incident and the agency's seeming inability to fix longtime operational flaws.

The two top American officials in Iraq met with Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki after his endorsement over the weekend of a recount in the parliamentary elections incited fears of a political crisis in a country not accustomed to peaceful transfers of power.

A U.S. Federal Judge has ordered the release of Mohamedou Slahi, a Mauritanian national who is suspected of links to the 9/11 hijackers and was tortured while in custody at Guantanamo Bay.

Conservationists scored a rare victory at a U.N. wildlife meeting when governments voted to reject weakening the 21-year-old ban on ivory sales over concerns that it would further contribute to poaching.

As doubts mount over the effectiveness of Mexican President Felipe Calderon's anti-drug crusade, with its death toll of 18,000 people, so do the political risks for Mexico's military.

Members of Parliament from Turkey's religious conservative governing party proposed constitutional changes that would make it harder to ban political parties and easier to prosecute military officials in civilian courts.

Commentary of the Day

Gideon Rachman says the Congressional approval of healthcare reform has reinvigorated the Obama presidency in a way that has implications not just for Americans, but for the world.

Roger Cohen writes about the Green Movement in Iran through the eyes of two Iranians on the ground who are yearning for change.

The L.A. Times editorial board argues that Israel needs to hear that its plan to build housing units in East Jerusalem hurts the peace process.

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