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OPINION / Netanyahu turned Palestinian statehood into bargaining chip
By Amitai Etzioni
Tags: Barack Obama, settlements 

WASHINGTON - If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had walked out of the White House on May 18 and announced that he accepted President Barack Obama's demands to freeze all settlement construction, he would merely have forced the president to demand some other significant concession from Israel. Obama was urged not only by Arab leaders, but also by many so-called progressive Jewish ones to show "even-handedness," to stop the U.S. tilt in favor of Israel in order to become a credible broker for peace in the Middle East.

Aaron David Miller, a Jewish-American diplomat and oft-quoted expert on the Middle East, captured this position well in a Newsweek essay entitled "Obama must get tough with Israel to achieve peace." By not crying uncle the first time Israel's arm was twisted, Netanyahu allowed Obama to show that he is not all talk on the eve of his Cairo speech.

Moreover, while several liberal Jewish members of Congress read the riot act to Netanyahu, including Carl Levin, Howard Berman and Henry Waxman, the Washington Post's official editorial called for finding a compromise between the Israeli and American positions - one that could hardly have been considered if Netanyahu had accepted a full freeze from the get-go.
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The Post, hardly an Israeli cheerleader, stated in its June 7 editorial that "by insisting on [a total construction ban], the administration risks bogging itself down in a major dispute with its ally, while giving Arab governments and Palestinians a ready excuse not to make their own concessions." Moreover, it said, "the practical need for a total settlement freeze is debatable" and "a good compromise is achievable."

Arguably even more important if true give-and-take is to occur, Netanyahu succeeded overnight in taking back a very major concession that previous Israeli governments had made and turning it into a significant bargaining chip. For years - surely ever since Ehud Barak made his famous magnanimous peace offer - Israeli support for a two-state solution was more or less taken for granted. In a surprisingly short period, Netanyahu has put Israel into a position in which if it agrees to two states, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan will be able to say that they and Obama have wrested a major concession from Israel's "right-wing government."

But by far the most important step Netanyahu took during his May visit received next to no attention. This may be because he made the point rather indirectly. Netanyahu stated, "I want to make it clear that we don't want to govern the Palestinians. We want to live in peace with them. We want them to govern themselves, absent a handful of powers that could endanger the state of Israel."

He did not say what these powers were or what dangers stem from calling "home rule" a "state"; he left these issues vague. But all those well-versed in the fine print of the envisioned two-state solution - though very few others - know that the Palestinian state is not expected to have the powers of a normal state. It will not be free to bring in all the arms and military units it desires, deny Israel the right to fly over its territory or exercise other powers that practically all sovereign states have.

The same point was made by two leading foreign policy mavens not suspected of pro-Israeli bias: Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft. Both favor pushing a two-state solution, but Brzezinski suggests "an American line [of troops] along the Jordan River," and Scowcroft favors putting a "NATO peace-keeping force" on the West Bank. The reason is obvious: to prevent the West Bank from being turned into a larger version of Gaza.

There are several problems with this approach. American or NATO troops could be withdrawn overnight. Moreover, the American troops in Iraq and the NATO ones in Afghanistan have been unable to stop terrorists' bombs and rocket attacks in those parts. There is no reason to believe they would do better on the West Bank. Nor can Israel rely on either the beleaguered United States or the conflicted and casualty-averse NATO to show a staying power for peace-keeping that neither mustered in Kosovo, Bosnia and Haiti.

Moreover, there are very few precedents for demilitarized states. A two-state solution is understood by most people as one that entails two sovereign states. Once a Palestinian state is established, many in the Muslim world, and surely in Europe, not to mention Russia and China, will hold that "obviously" the new state cannot be stopped from arming itself.

Hence it is important to deal now with the question of whether advocates of the two-state solution really mean two states - exactly the issue Netanyahu raised. If the answer is a hobbled state, Netanyahu may be right that it better to call it something else. If it is to be a true state, security arrangements other than relying on the U.S. and NATO are called for.

Maybe the new Israeli ambassador to the U.S. can find ways to make this crucial point, such that Israel will be heard and the issue will no longer be swept under the rug.

Amitai Etzioni is a professor of international relations at George Washington University

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      1.   Spain ,a NATO country has just showed support for Hezbollah 02:24  |  Absolute Sweden 12/06/09
      2.   That chip has already been played 02:47  |  binny 12/06/09
      3.   Security ? 02:52  |  Muskens 12/06/09
      4.   Thought provoking 02:59  |  Jon 12/06/09
      5.   The Post not an Israeli cheerleader? Really? Do u ever read it? 03:04  |  peacelover 12/06/09
      6.   Whether Post Israeli Cheerleader 03:08  |  Ilene 12/06/09
      7.   Wanna play, gotta pay. 03:08  |  Bazmann 12/06/09
      8.   Muskens, please allow me a try at it: 03:16  |  Jasper 12/06/09
      9.   #1 Absolutely and utterly correct in your analysis 03:17  |  kiwi girl 12/06/09
      10.   Explanation to Dutch Chap 03:26  |  Robert 12/06/09
      11.   Statehood 03:28  |  Larry 12/06/09
      12.   No duh Amitai Etzioni 03:51  |  Chino 12/06/09
      13.   Spinning a silk purse out of a sow`s ear 03:55  |  Johnboy 12/06/09
      14.   To #11 03:59  |  rob 12/06/09
      15.   muskens is dreaming 04:11  |  bronxite10 12/06/09
      16.   Etzioni 04:42  |  Iain 12/06/09
      17.   Robert DC 04:46  |  Le Corbeau 12/06/09
      18.   Jasper 04:48  |  Iain 12/06/09
      19.   Israel a crazy hen seeking safety amongst hungry foxes 04:51  |  lydia 12/06/09
      20.   This article is a spin - Netanyahu FAILED to understand Obama 05:31  |  Carl Kahtey 12/06/09
      21.   please spare me all this ignorant rhetoric 05:35  |  Msrk 12/06/09
      22.   bronxite10 - What have you been smoking??!! 05:39  |  Rick 12/06/09
      23.   Beware of false prophets and impostors 05:55  |  Shimon Cleopas 12/06/09
      24.   Beware of false prophets and impostors 06:03  |  Shimon Cleopas 12/06/09
      25.   Mushkens - Israeli Colonialism! 06:12  |  Le Corbeau 12/06/09
      26.   Excellent analysis! 06:22  |  Dan 12/06/09
      27.   brilliant bargaining!! 06:25  |  binny 12/06/09
      28.   fried chicken 06:36  |  sad clown 12/06/09
      29.   excellent analysis 06:43  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/09
      30.   It`s Israel`s turn to make concessions 07:13  |  Esther 12/06/09
      31.   BeBe don`t cave! 07:19  |  consorts 12/06/09
      32.   #21 Msrk. Are you saying "might makes right?" 07:20  |  Lou Medel 12/06/09
      33.   Expectations from Netanyahu`s Sundays speech. 07:34  |  Mark 12/06/09
      34.   To MRSK 07:47  |  Alfred 12/06/09
      35.   Costa Rica solution? 08:05  |  Manny Goldstein 12/06/09
      36.   True! 08:07  |  Chappaqua neighbor 12/06/09
      37.   And yet the cacophony keeps growing and growing... 09:30  |  BBSNews 12/06/09
      38.   Obama is the first US president to see Arabs as real people. 10:00  |  Michael 12/06/09
      39.   Perhaps. But with Bibi, there are always additional demands... 10:04  |  S 12/06/09
      40.   But he maintained the existance of Israel! 10:33  |  lily 12/06/09
      41.   #21 Msrk 10:39  |  lily 12/06/09
      42.   Whoever Said A Demilitarized Palestinian State is Optimal? 10:46  |  Shaul Ben-Yimini 12/06/09
      43.   Netanyahu`s speech 11:09  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/06/09
      44.   Palestine will be armed 11:22  |  Matty Groves 12/06/09
      45.   Where was the `Israeli lobby`? 11:23  |  Matty Groves 12/06/09
      46.   Thank heaven we don`t have Livni negotiating! 11:28  |  redbourn 12/06/09
      47.   Prof, you`ve badly misunderstood the situation. 11:32  |  Michael 12/06/09
      48.   41-lily "good & true" 11:50  |  Akram Zekaria 12/06/09
      49.   Okay, fair enough, Washington Post and Mr. Etzioni...... 12:00  |  Swiss (Dino) 12/06/09
      50.   Sorry, Jasper, where have you been? 12:08  |  Murray 12/06/09
      51.   Ducking and Diving 12:24  |  Iain 12/06/09
      52.   Good lesson from Netanyahu, as readed by Prof Etzion 12:26  |  Israeli citizen 12/06/09
      53.   LANGUAGE OF NUKES WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING 12:28  |  indrajaya 12/06/09
      54.   CHIP 13:29  |  bar kochva 12/06/09
      55.   Netanyahu`s Sunday Speech ! 13:36  |  Akram Zekaria 12/06/09
      56.   More Concessions!!!!!!! 14:41  |  Confused 12/06/09
      57.   Obama controls the pace and the direction 14:42  |  Natallie Durson 12/06/09
      58.   Cipora #43 Your long list of requirements is just for the freeze? 15:01  |  S 12/06/09
      59.   Jasper 15:06  |  Bknitter 12/06/09
      60.   What Bargaining chip? 15:08  |  Osaka 12/06/09
      61.   Very simplistic 15:17  |  ezzat tamimi 12/06/09
      62.   Settlements? 15:53  |  Nechama 12/06/09
      63.   Embarrassing article 16:08  |  Rolf 12/06/09
      64.   #25 16:09  |  Chance 12/06/09
      65.   |Amitai Etzioni 23:32  |  Arieh Zimmrman 12/06/09
      66.   Amitai Etzioni 23:41  |  Arieh Zimmrman 12/06/09
      67.   Jasper/ In agreement w/ Murry & Bknitter 23:43  |  Deacon2 12/06/09
      68.   Murry, Bknitter, and Deacon2 04:14  |  Jasper 13/06/09
      69.   about "Obama controls", and illusions of power 13:57  |  Israeli citizen 13/06/09
      70.   Rabin and mesmerizing Clinton did this to Israel 20:52  |  Jason 13/06/09
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