There's more to U.S.-Israel crisis than Netanyahu vs. Obama
If Obama is serious about advancing the peace process, he may have to make a substitution of his own.
By Amos Harel and Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Benjamin Netanyahu Barack Obama Middle East peace Israel newsPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened the forum of seven senior ministers Wednesday for another round of marathon deliberations over his visit to Washington next week for the AIPAC conference.
Netanyhau finds himself in an awkward position: The American Mideast envoy George Mitchell is apparently delaying his visit to Israel, and President Barack Obama has hinted that the he wants the head of Interior Minister Eli Yishai. These are good reasons for a few more comments on the only game in town at the moment - the crisis in Israel's relationship with the U.S.
The current upset is not solely the result of the antipathy between Netanyahu and Obama. While it is true that Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert, Netanyau's predecessors, benefited from an excellent personal relationship with then-U.S. president George W. Bush, they also had other advantages.
Over the years Israel has utilized the skills of officials with a direct line to the White House. 0For example, Dov Weisglass had Condoleezza Rice; Yoram Turbowitz had Steven Hadley. When our leaders' actions stalled the diplomatic process, there was always a diligent aide around to step in and set the gears back into motion. In Netanyahu's bureau there is no such person.
Although he surrounds himself with American expatriates (with whom, according to testimonies, he prefers to engage in English), the current prime minister has no real point man with Obama. The most effective relationship between the two countries is currently within the military echelons, between IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi and U.S. Admiral Michael Mullen, but that channel is designated for military coordination, not understandings about construction in Jerusalem.
Two days ago, Haaretz quoted David Makovsky of the Washington Institute, who suggested that Netanyahu rid himself of Yishai over the diplomatic crisis he instigated by approving the construction in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood. Now it turns out that we were being used as a weather balloon: Obama on Wednesday night slammed Yishai for damaging the peace process. On Thursday morning, according to reports, the Americans hinted to Netanyahu that he must dismiss his interior minister.
These actions reveal a lack of understanding about Israeli politics. With Avigdor Lieberman and the Likud rebels breathing down his neck, Netanyahu can ill afford to alienate more political allies. Chances are he will even evade a direct U.S. request for Yishal's dismissal.
What is the Obama administration's next planned step? To oust Netanyahu from office? True, one could credit then-U.S. secretary of state James Baker with ending Yitzhak Shamir's Likud government in the 1992 elections via the loan guarantees crisis, but it is doubtful whether a maneuver like this could work a second time.
In recent days, the American and Israeli media have repeatedly quoted the musings of U.S. General David Petraeus, commander of CENTCOM, who reportedly warned his superiors and the U.S. administration that the freeze in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and America's support for Israel are endangering broader U.S. interests in the region. It turns out that Israel is indirectly responsible for bombs in Kandahar and Baghdad.
This is an old claim, and one that has some support within the U.S. administration, but despite U.S. reports to the contrary, it never came up in the recent round of talks between Mullen and the Israeli defense chiefs, which were apparently solely devoted to Iranian threat and the efforts to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Mitchell is an accomplished man who has at least one historical achievement to his credit: a central role in formulating the Good Friday agreement that ended the violence in Northern Ireland. But with all due respect, it must be noted that his achievements in the Mideast have fallen well short of his European accomplishments. It would appear that Mitchell perceives his role as that of a messenger relaying bridging proposals from one side to the other.
At the moment, because of the Ramat Shlomo fiasco, the Palestinians are refusing to even sit in the same room as Netanyahu's people. If Obama is serious about advancing the process, he may well have to make a substitution of his own - and replace his Mideast envoy with someone more charismatic.
Posted by Amos Harel on March 18, 2010
Previous MESS Report posts:
- U.S. anger over East Jerusalem row is excessive
- Palestinians aren't missing the chance to fan the flames
- Mubarak, Egypt regime change and Israel
- Palestinian police chief knows 'the secret of the correct use of force'
- Thank you for using Qalandiyah checkpoint
- The U.S. will no longer turn a blind eye to Israeli settlements
- Israel policy allows settlers to rampage unchecked
- Israel threatens PA: 'fight violence or we will'
- PA holds olive branch in one hand, stone in the other
- As the West woos Syria, Assad aligns himself with Iran
- Exclusive: Hamas leader quits Shalit talks over internal feud
- The almost unbelievable story of Israel's spy in Hamas
- When Palestinians keep Israelis safe
- Who's afraid of Israeli far-rightists?
- Israel and Palestinians pass Jericho test
- Media failed in Dubai hit, not Mossad
- Iran in the cross-hairs
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If Abbas wants to go back in time and stop everything, and Israel must please Obama, let Abbas negotiate peace with Sharon!! Who needs Mitchell? The Pals are going to get the same response to their impossible proposals from Sharon. They have to. They don't understand NO!!!
USA has two main choices. First is to accept that Israel will not get peace, and provide unconditional support. US power, while dwindling, can still stop UN and NATO. EU will do sanctions. Israel can trade with China? Sell them oranges? US military equipment? China wants US designs, they'll do their own production. When they have the designs China will stop buying. Iran gets nukes, maybe after an Israeli/US attack. Syria gets nukes. Hard times for Israel. Selah. Or USA can withdraw from Israel. No new military designs to sell. No aid at $1000/citizen. No hidden aid at $7,000/citizen. No sweetheart US military contracts. Arabs make threats. Israel gets desperate. Do they use their poison gas? Their bioweapons? Their nukes? Their cobalt bombs? Very bad for the whole world. Anything inbetween is falling between two stools, worse than either extreme. So the USA should support Israel unconditionally in anything they want to do. It's the best choice. Of course, the future is uncertain.
On average, Israelis want land more than they want peace. They are the victors, why should they the spoils to the victims? While that's true there cannot be peace unless the Pals give up and die. The USA cannot get honest negotiations started with the current Israeli government -- they cannot possibly agree to any deal the Palestinians would accept. But if the USA puts on enough pressure that the Israeli government falls, likely a worse government would replace them. Unless Israeli public opinion changes there can be no peace. And Israelis who want peace are likely to leave Israel, while Jews who want land are likely to immigrate. So no peace. More on next rock.
Do you feel better now....I know the truth hurts so you must be feeling a great deal of pain now. Insults are a sign of immaturity and the inability to put forth a good rebuke of someones post...what did I say that was not right? Are you stumped?
and its the only thing you got rolling around the empty melon you call a head
It is a deep divide between the US administration search for peace and this Bib coalition that is opposed to peace. It is as simple as that. It will end with either US is withrawing from its role as mediator or collapse og this Bibi coalition, there is nothing to bridge those two.
Israel doesn't like anyone who doesn't cater to her needs. George is gearing up to pull a James Baker loan guarantees card and penalize Israel. I can't wait.
The timing of Israel's announcement to expand settlements is just the latest demonstration that it has no interest in peace and no regard for U.S. regional interests. If President Obama has any genuine ambition to foster a peace agreement and actually earn his Nobel Prize then the U.S. should hit Israel with the only response it understands, an executive order suspending military aid. Under such pressure Israel would for the first time be inclined to negotiate with Palestinians and hammer out an agreement. At the very least the U.S. would stop being indirectly responsible for our weapons being used to suppress an entire population that is not our enemy.
We need to stop getting our noses into other people's business. Id our leaders haven't noticed it we have quite a bunch of problems right here in the U S of A. No more Foreign Aid! After all we are Trillions of dollars in debt. Hell pretty soon we will be the ones needing foreign aid! Obama just needs to stop getting into what really are OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS. Even if he would to solve this (I don't think he can but for the sake of the argument say he could) SO WHAT. How does that bring jobs into America? It doesn't.
Divide Jerusalem, palestinian refugees, 1967 borders? Create a terrorist state funded by Iran? What has the palestinians EVER done towards peace? In the Hamas and Fatah Charters they both will never regognize the Jewish State of Israel. And Israel is supposed to bend over and take it? Just because Obama likes to bend over and bow, doesn't mean Israel has to. Ask Larry Sinclair about Obama in the back of the limo.
Please inform us as to how Tad's post is pathetic. Does the truth hurt so badly that you have to make such a moronic statement in answer to his post. Everyday in every way Americans are benefiting from products and medical advancements that come from Israel. How sad that you are either not aware of this or that your dislike for Israel overrides your sensibilities. No one is claiming that the palestinians do not have the brains to achieve great things we are claiming that these pathetic people are so mired in hatred and vengeance that they cannot get out of their own way. Their lack of leadership adds to this toxic mixture and there you have it...a group of people that will never succeed or never will be a well mannered guest at the table of civilization. Bombs and killing...death and hatred directed at Jews will only bring the palestinians down deeper into the cesspool their leaders have created for them.
Yes, Richard cavota the "Director" Back stabber from etobicoke who works for the big american toy company in mississauga must be Eliminated, must Goooooooooooo
ref.no. 6.i disagree with him that p.m/is to blame for beiden humilation.beiden left israel rather un angry/
So now, the Bibi apologists target Mitchell as the problem for not being enough 'charismmatic'. How pathetic. Charisma has nothing to do with effective negotiations. A negotiator needs to be low-key, knowledgeable, patient and respected by both sides. The problem here is mostly Netanyahu but especially Lieberman and Shas who are breathing down his neck and pushing him into a disastrous foreign policy.
Should not ignore Gen. Petraeus and his testimony before Congress this week about settlements. He is very well respected in Congress, in the Administration, and the entire US. Very powerful person with a lot of clout. You could lose McCain.
I totaly agree with you but not sure Israel desrves this rubbish either. Her place is either at the dumpster or toilet, this is the type of Jew that makes me embaressed in my religion.
Lets face it this issue has ballooned and there is no reason to embarace the Secretary of State. She's made demands that are outlandish and are not going to be agreed to, yet at the same time, if she comes back empty handed it is an "embarrasment" (you might say by making a demand you are asking to be embarrassed if it falls through) but still, between friends, you must forgive trespasses and mistakes and you must come to an amicable agreement to avoid a bad taste being left behind. So axe Yishai, this will allow more breathing space for the centre right, as well, this is an opportunity to do it without losing support of the hard right and the loss of the government which will cause a lot of issues. You can blame it on politics Best to play politics, and while you are at it, maybe axe Lieberman too, he lacks Tact and political prowess, he reminds me of Palestinian-Arab leadership in 47, he is missing crucial qualities and traits required for an FM, without them he is a liability
I agree that the US should not be meddling in the internal politics of Israel. It is clear that neither the Jews or Arabs are interested in reaching a peaceful settlement. It is time for the US to stop squandering money and lives intervening in the situation. It is time for the US to leave the region so the locals can finish this themselves.
Nothing to do with continued settlement expansions. Great analysis. Carry on!
forgive me for saying so, but in fact the Palestinian Covenant that cannot perceive 'Peace'.
you are pathetic
....that Israel has produced yet another wondrous medical donation to the world in the form of a replacement retina to give sight to the blind? Hmmmmm....what have the backward bloodthirsty Palestinians/Iranians/Syrians/etc. contributed to society lately? Ahhh, yes, of course...they killed a workman in a field today with one of their detestable rockets! Quite a contrast. ~
Jackie it sounds like you drank lots of Goy hatred from your mother's milk. If you hate our policies and President so much, why don't you pack your bags and go to Israel. We don't need people who hate America in our midst.
It is mind boggling to read that Mitchell's lack of charisma is part of the problem. After more than sixty years is this what it come down to?Grow up and see yourselves as the rest of us see you - a client state of the U.S. using whatever form of blackmail works. You have lost the idealism which we all admired forty years ago.
Let Abbas conclude agreement with Peace Now! and ask Hamas to endorse it
What is Israels idea of a good American president? American policy has always been anti-settlement and that will not change, nor will any president go against it. George Bush, considered by Israel as one of their favorite presidents, spoke out against settlements, calling them "an impediment to peace". Bush also spoke out at the beginning of the 2006 war, asking that Israel not damage the infrastructure of Lebanon or jeopardize the government of Siniora. In each case, Israel ignored Bush and in each case Bush shut up. This then is Israels favorite president. Someone they can ignore with impunity. Having done this for several decades, Israel sees American weakness on settlements as a big bright green light to do as they please. Now, along comes Obama. This is something new for Israel. As always when experiencing something new, especially when it is critical of Israel, Israel handled it badly. In the end, Obama may be an American idea of a good president.
The problem is continued construction in occupied territory designated for a Palestinian state. You can't make a silk purse out of a pig's ear. This coalition is against making peace with the Palestinians, that's all.
It is the Zionist dogma that cannot perceive peace with the Palestinians. I am sure Mitchell knows exactly what he is doing. He KNOWS the Zionista will use every trick in the world not to recognize the Palestinians' right to have their own country. He's playing a very smart game of letting the Israeli rulers show their real intentions to the world by scuttling EVERY effort towards real peace in the region. The Natanyahu junta has exposed its anti-peace intetnions to the world and Michell is going to give them all the ropes they need to hang themselves.
...is the author's real "bottom line," so to speak, that the best way to get things off the dime is for the US to put a specific plan on the table (and while they're at it, have someone new put it there)?
troops from Iraq, Afghanistan and all bases in ME, including SArabia. We'll save GIs' lives and money.
possibly Netanyahoo (if he is playing games)
Every time I see George Mitchell, I am reminded of the hatred of Jews he drank in with his Arab mother's milk. I think that is the problem he has. Israelis aren't complete fools, they know where his true sympathies -- like those of Hyssein Obama -- rest.
I have been pro Israel my entire life and I never thought that I would find myself questioning that sentiment. But come on Its like the horrible influence of Bush has some how seeped into your goverment. You guys need to quit kicking a defeated enemy and start rebuilding before you find your self with out political allies and surrounded by enemies.
"Obama has hinted that the he wants the head of Interior Minister Eli Yishai". Pathetic assumption without any bases. Great start to an article. The Obama administration has made it clear as cristal that Binyamin Netanyahu is to be blamed for the humiliation of the US Vice President, no patsy will do.
Where is the press about Netanyahu and Michael Oren participating in apocalyptic televangelist John Hagee's Christians United for Israel event on the night of Biden's arrival? In light of questions about Netanyahu's intent, shouldn't this be in the news? It is important politically because Netanyahu apparently believes that tens of millions of Christian Zionists (those driven by end times beliefs) will support him in defying peace attempts. Of course, as seen in the books and sermons of Hagee and other end times activists, this support is based on a narrative in which Rabbinic Judaism is destroyed in order to bring about a Christian millennial utopia headquartered in Jerusalem. If you doubt their ability to influence politics, look at 1998 when Netanyahu and Hagee also collaborated. Before meeting with Bill Clinton, Netanyahu detoured to the Mayflower Hotel in D.C. where evangelist Jerry Falwell had assembled 100s and Hagee led them in shouting, "Not one inch!"
This has been clear since the situation erupted last week. Netanyahu claims an administrative error on the part of Yishai. If one rogue minister can explode the relationship between the US and Israel then he has to go. I however do not believe Netanyahu's boys are so out of control that an announcement of construction in Jerusalem could be made while Biden is in town without Netanyahu's express direction. I just don't buy it. How can anyone be so stupid? No, I believe it was intentional and the US must respond in kind.
We need more analyst like this. Bravo I say, bravo.
How can you suggest with a straight face that Mitchell is the problem? He is the best that America has, period. Take a look at his accomplishments and take a look across the battle field of special envoys that have been chewed up and spit out by the recalcitrance of Israelis and Palestinians. If you can't live with Mitchell, frankly, there is no one who can help you but yourself.
And it's the lack of charisma holding up peace!