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Last update - 10:02 10/11/2006 The Clash of Civilizations / Differing interests - or conflict of interest By Yossi Beilin The unwritten treaty between the United States and Israel is based on a similar world view. Both countries believe in democratic values, respect for human rights, solving conflicts through negotiation using rational and logical arguments, and both would like to see a better, more reasonable world living in peace and prosperity without oppressing people, while providing equal opportunities and exploiting the abilities of each and every person. But this foundation is one of principles rather than a modus operandi, and the differences in the modus operandi derive mainly from the fact that the U.S. is a superpower with interests in the Middle East that are broader than the Israeli interest in living in security - and if possible, in peace - in a region that has never welcomed the Jewish state with open arms. These differences already existed prior to the establishment of the State, and both countries knew how to live with them. Occasionally the U.S. managed to get Israel to adopt a policy that it favored, whether by means of an ultimatum (the Israeli withdrawal from Sinai in 1956), or through very active mediation (the Israeli-Egyptian peace agreement that would not have been signed without the personal involvement of President Jimmy Carter; the cease-fire agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in July 1981, which would not have been achieved without the mediation of Philip Habib, et al). Occasionally the Americans made an attempt that was not accepted by the two sides (the 1969 Rogers Plan, the 1982 Reagan Plan, and to a great extent the 2000 Clinton Plan as well). Advertisement In 2006, there is a genuine conflict of interest between Israel and the U.S., which is of unprecedented magnitude in the relations between the two countries. The Bush administration is in the midst of what it calls "a war against terror," which includes, among other things, a sharp distinction between the "axis of evil" and those that are not connected to it, an effort to establish democracies in undemocratic countries, and the use of force against anyone who endangers world peace. Because of these principles, the U.S. forced Israel to allow Hamas to participate in the democratic elections for the Palestinian Legislative Council that were held this past January, and in the name of these principles, the U.S. is boycotting the Hamas government. And these are the principles that led the U.S. to prevent Israel from conducting negotiations with Syria without preconditions. This is the situation at the start of the 21st century: The Arab League is calling on Israel to achieve an overall peace with its neighbors on the basis of the borders that existed between the sides on the eve of the Six-Day War, 40 years ago, promising full normalization of Israel's relations with the Arab world under these conditions; Syrian President Bashar Assad is calling on Israel to begin peace negotiations with him immediately without preconditions for the sake of a Syrian-Israeli peace; Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) is calling on Israel to begin negotiations for an Israeli-Palestinian peace and promises to bring the results of the negotiations to a national referendum. Whereas the U.S. continues to refer to the "road map" - which nobody in the Middle East has lifted a finger to implement during the past four years - as though it were the 21st-century version of the Philosopher's Stone; it is boycotting Hamas and Syria, and is instructing Israel to do the same. The magnitude of the present folly is reflected in one of the U.S. secretary of state's recent visits to the region during the course of the second war in Lebanon. Condoleezza Rice was very eager to help end the war in the region, both in the Gaza Strip and in Lebanon, but she was unable to meet with the Hamas representatives because the U.S. is boycotting them, she could not visit Syria, because the U.S. is boycotting Assad, she could not speak with Hezbollah representatives, whereas the Lebanese government was unwilling to meet with her because of the Israeli bombing that caused many civilian casualties in Qana. In the end Rice met with the Israeli leadership and returned home ... A government such as that of the late prime minister Yitzhak Rabin would have come to the U.S. and stated clearly that Israel has a national interest in completing the circle of peace, that democratization is important and dear to us but cannot be a condition for peace with the Arab world. A peace government would have done everything possible to reach an agreement with the Palestinians with the indirect backing of Hamas, and to reach a peace agreement with the Syrians that involves giving up the Golan Heights. The government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, which prefers to appoint a person like Avigdor Lieberman as the minister in charge of handling the Iranian threat, does not even consider demanding that the U.S. lift its veto against conducting negotiations with our immediate neighbors. On the contrary, the veto is even convenient for the government. And anyone who does not want to solve the Middle East conflict because he is unwilling to pay the price of compromise, finds it convenient to hide behind slogans such as a war of religions or a war of cultures, in order to explain that the conflict is insoluble and that no territorial arrangement will satisfy the fighters for religion or culture. The conclusion: It is therefore preferable not to give up anything and to keep what there is, to fortify ourselves for the upcoming Armageddon, and to steal from welfare and education and health so that we can arm ourselves to the teeth. The difference in interests has turned into a conflict of interests between the U.S. and Israel, but in its weakness, the Olmert government finds itself in a situation where it does not wish to and cannot protest against that. The price that we are all liable to pay could prove to be too high. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Prisoner exchange Israel signs swap deal, begins exhuming bodies of Hezbollah guerillas. Provocative questions Gaydamak tells TAU student to 'shut up and go to hell' over Angola question.   1.   israel has no control of the world`s problems 10:15  |  thucydides 10/11/06   2.   yossi beilin is wrong 10:20  |  thucydides 10/11/06   3.   Remarkable 10:22  |  Frantz 10/11/06   4.   The Road Map is dead, the one-state solution will come... 10:42  |  Swiss 10/11/06   5.   Bush wants out of Iraq and Israel will be the price 10:52  |  Yossi Cronenberg 10/11/06   6.   ISRAEL DIDN`T RESPECT PREVIOUS AGREEMENT 10:58  |  indrajaya 10/11/06   7.   Selling False Hopes 11:03  |  Terry Brodsky 10/11/06   8.   Beilin is really a Eurabian politician 11:04  |  Ben 10/11/06   9.   Democracies 12:18  |  ron 10/11/06   10.   The One-State Solution reply to #4 12:23  |  Terry 10/11/06   11.   terry brodsky 12:30  |  A.M. 10/11/06   12.   # 4, SWISS 12:34  |  indrajaya 10/11/06   13.   Saudi "peace" plan, de-Orwellized 12:52  |  MG 10/11/06   14.   To A.M. in Tel Aviv 12:58  |  Terry Brodsky 10/11/06   15.   NONE OF THOSE QUALITIES APPLY TO ISRAEL.... 12:59  |  Messaoud 10/11/06   16.   # 12 indrajaya (also for #10 Terry) Don`t worry..... 13:01  |  Swiss 10/11/06   17.   Confusing mishmash of half- truths by architect of Oslo disaster 13:03  |  Shalom Freedman 10/11/06   18.   To #11 - let us see those "moderate" Pals 13:07  |  Zvi Lando 10/11/06   19.   Swiss, I wholeheartedly agree 13:08  |  Skandar 10/11/06   20.   #11 - continued..... 13:11  |  Zvi Lando 10/11/06   21.   Losing Interest in Israel 13:18  |  Alikospah 10/11/06   22.   Terry knows how to shove, that`s all he knows.. 13:19  |  Skandar 10/11/06   23.   Israel will survive 13:34  |  ATLAS 10/11/06   24.   Civilizations? 14:29  |  Hadrian 10/11/06   25.   #18 Zvi 14:30  |  Fiona 10/11/06   26.   23 the oz 14:32  |  John and the truth 10/11/06   27.   One State 14:37  |  Victor Smolinsky 10/11/06   28.   Israel respects human rights? 15:05  |  Tim 10/11/06   29.   Messaoud 15:19  |  Walid 10/11/06   30.   Zvi Lando 15:27  |  A.M. 10/11/06   31.   Terry Brodsky 15:46  |  A.M. 10/11/06   32.   Beilin believes in land for terror camps 15:47  |  David Stoler 10/11/06   33.   Thucydides Is Wrong, Beilin Is Right #2 16:26  |  Yaakov Sullivan 10/11/06   34.   Zvi Lando 16:29  |  Walid 10/11/06   35.   swiss dino "israel keeps a part of its army" 16:45  |  thucydides 10/11/06   36.   ridiculous comparison 17:10  |  Jack 10/11/06   37.   Lying Beilin ,what about "return of refugees" demanded by A-Leagu 17:16  |  Absolute Sweden 10/11/06   38.   One day the unnatural country of Switzerland is dissolved and 17:18  |  Absolute Sweden 10/11/06   39.   Israel compromises, the US does not 17:23  |  Herbert Kaine 10/11/06   40.   Democracies are messy 17:23  |  David Hoffman 10/11/06   41.   If Israel were Japan... 17:30  |  MG 10/11/06   42.   Beilin knows even less about my country than his own 17:44  |  Dr. L. Brnd 10/11/06   43.   One State 17:45  |  John 10/11/06   44.   Yossi, do us a favor: go fly a kite!! 17:48  |  Moshe 10/11/06   45.   Excellent article Yossi! 17:55  |  Ziad 10/11/06   46.   Israel retains its independence 17:57  |  Itamar 10/11/06   47.   It is up to Israel 18:08  |  Emad Matahin 10/11/06   48.   Yossi the yuppie dreams on 18:13  |  Bimmer 10/11/06   49.   ONE STATE Victor Smolinsky 18:14  |  emad matahin 10/11/06   50.   Yossi Beilin: What Are You Doing? 18:25  |  Jeff Northridge 10/11/06   51.   Belin = EU Bought and Paid For and a Real Disgrace 18:30  |  Tod Zuckerman 10/11/06   52.   THE NEW UNITED STATES EMPIRE 18:33  |  Larry Klein 10/11/06   53.   This time Beilin happens to be right 18:35  |  peter 10/11/06   54.   Yossi Beilin is right 18:37  |  Steve 10/11/06   55.   #43 john one stae 18:38  |  Emad Matahin 10/11/06   56.   Beilin is lost in the haze... 18:53  |  Polybios 10/11/06   57.   SWISS is correct #4 18:59  |  Harris 10/11/06   58.   Indrajaya -- you`re skipping things 19:03  |  bbl 10/11/06   59.   Indrajaya -- there are a million Palestinian people what are... 19:05  |  bbl 10/11/06   60.   yougottabekiddin 19:17  |  tadchase 10/11/06   61.   Emad Matahin agrees, but... 19:34  |  John 10/11/06   62.   The Arab League proposal 19:35  |  Michael II 10/11/06   63.   Walid #29 19:48  |  Danite 10/11/06   64.   Messaoud #15 19:50  |  Danite 10/11/06   65.   # 38 Absolute Sweden Don`t worry, we... 20:02  |  Swiss 10/11/06   66.   conflict of interests between US/ Israel 20:03  |  Palat Netta 10/11/06   67.   To bbl 20:06  |  John 10/11/06   68.   To Michael ll 20:17  |  John 10/11/06   69.   swiss dino dont worry you will survive 20:23  |  thucydides 10/11/06   70.   Indrajaya #6 (Netanyahu coming to power 1996) 20:28  |  Oleg 10/11/06   71.   Tadchase #60 on madness 20:49  |  Stanley 10/11/06   72.   Beilin too soft on Israel 20:53  |  Tosefta 10/11/06   73.   TO john #61 20:59  |  emad matahin 10/11/06   74.   # 69 thucydides I thought I offered you a cease-fire.... 21:12  |  Swiss 10/11/06   75.   What garbaGE 21:33  |  Billy Jack 10/11/06   76.   to john #68 22:02  |  emad matahin 10/11/06   77.   #indaraya what to you call the hindu 22:07  |  eva 10/11/06   78.   delusions of Beilin 22:07  |  Bob 10/11/06   79.   #68 John 22:08  |  Michael II 10/11/06   80.   John 22:15  |  Michael II 10/11/06   81.   John 22:26  |  Walid 10/11/06   82.   To: AM in Tel Aviv 22:31  |  Terry Brodsky 10/11/06   83.   TO #50 22:56  |  Bertrand 10/11/06   84.   #38 Absolute Sweden 22:57  |  Joe Average 10/11/06   85.   Tosefta # 72 Correction 23:17  |  Jeff Northridge 10/11/06   86.   Switzerland in the 40ties #1 23:27  |  Joe Average 10/11/06   87.   Switzerland in the 40ties #2 23:28  |  Joe Average 10/11/06   88.   Question for Mr. Matahin 23:41  |  John 10/11/06   89.   No need for Israel to worry about Iran 23:42  |  maureen Ann 10/11/06   90.   #36 Jack "of all trades"? 23:57  |  Hastaroth 10/11/06   91.   #s 36 & 74, US Territories 01:01  |  Jim A 11/11/06   92.   what dya expect from a euronazi erev rav with fagpenis up his ass 01:03  |  this homo ismurderer 11/11/06   93.   WHAT BULL... 01:18  |  mike katz 11/11/06   94.   Tosefta and his confusions 01:19  |  Danite 11/11/06   95.   more and more 01:26  |  matt 11/11/06   96.   He is joking about the similar world view, right? 01:43  |  John 11/11/06   97.   Israel and USA 01:54  |  margaret 11/11/06   98.   the only solution is one secular state 02:56  |  Sam (UK) 11/11/06   99.   Oleg 02:59  |  danite 11/11/06   100.   #88 Margret You are right 05:08  |  Franklin 11/11/06   101.   Differing Interests? 06:13  |  Geoff 11/11/06   102.   Yossi Beilin 06:23  |  RW 11/11/06   103.   #86 John 06:59  |  Eamd Matahin 11/11/06   104.   Sam (UK) # 95 Bad Idea 07:08  |  Jeff Northridge 11/11/06   105.   your friend Shimon 08:11  |  ricardito 11/11/06   106.   joe average from basel 08:27  |  thucydides 11/11/06   107.   # 106 thucydides I thought I offered you a cease-fire..... 10:22  |  Swiss 11/11/06   108.   6. indrajaya: PREVIOUS AGREEMENT 10:28  |  KUTW 11/11/06   109.   28. Tim: Israel respects human rights 10:47  |  KUTW 11/11/06   110.   A rocking chair for Mr Beilin. 10:57  |  Akram Zekaria 11/11/06   111.   Joe Average and Swiss live in a state of shame 11:54  |  kyle 11/11/06   112.   wise jewish people???? 12:25  |  ravi 11/11/06   113.   # 86, 87 Good job, Joe, thanks to your effort.... 12:31  |  Swiss 11/11/06   114.   thucydides 12:34  |  Tony Price 11/11/06   115.   Israel does not respect human rights and the rest of the list 12:52  |  molchi 11/11/06   116.   Shame 13:02  |  Kyle 11/11/06   117.   # 111 kyle Wishful thinking , kyle...... 13:31  |  Swiss 11/11/06   118.   One state solution? 14:57  |  Bob Sled 11/11/06   119.   #28 Israel respects jewish rights 15:12  |  T A Sheppard 11/11/06   120.   Binational State? 15:16  |  Omar 11/11/06   121.   Correction corrected (Jeff Northridge 85) 15:19  |  Tosefta 11/11/06   122.   More territory=more security 15:54  |  Dummy 11/11/06   123.   To Kyle 16:04  |  Swiss No 2 11/11/06   124.   #65 Swiss-a correction 16:05  |  Rope-a-dope 11/11/06   125.   # 59, BBL 16:56  |  indrajaya 11/11/06   126.   Danite and her logical confusion (no. 94) 17:20  |  Tosefta 11/11/06   127.   Correction corrected (Jeff Northridge 85) 17:24  |  Tosefta 11/11/06   128.   no 5, yossi... 17:38  |  ravi 11/11/06   129.   10 lost tribe of israel 17:49  |  Lito 11/11/06   130.   Benny Hill ibn Tosefta #122 18:14  |  Gabe1 11/11/06   131.   Americans are sick of Israel 18:22  |  Nathan 11/11/06   132.   Nathan #124 - and I guess Jews as well? 20:02  |  natan 11/11/06   133.   Waow! Very good article. 20:06  |  Freedom fries 11/11/06   134.   Tosefta # 122 Correction To The Correction Corrected 20:56  |  Jeff Northridge 11/11/06   135.   Who Is Responsible for the Extremist US Policy? 21:06  |  Nick 11/11/06   136.   # 125 Jeff Northridge U.S. nothing to do with Beit Hanoun ?? 21:23  |  Swiss 11/11/06   137.   Tosefta 21:24  |  Danite 11/11/06   138.   The arrogance of Tosefta 21:50  |  Danite 11/11/06   139.   Jeff Northridge 21:54  |  Danite 11/11/06   140.   The first paragraph :) 22:15  |  Seanirl 11/11/06   141.   swiss revisionism to joe & swiss 22:19  |  Maya Roth 11/11/06   142.   125 22:26  |  matt 11/11/06   143.   # 134 Maya Roth Revisionism made in Switzerland 23:30  |  Swiss 11/11/06   144.   Where is Tveria (Jeff N 127) 23:44  |  Tosefta 11/11/06   145.   Tosafists (Danite 132) 00:09  |  Tosefta 12/11/06   146.   #swiss no 2 00:23  |  Kyle 12/11/06   147.   Dino & Swiss Cheese #129 00:31  |  Gabe1 12/11/06   148.   Where is Tveria (Jeff N 127); 2nd try 00:45  |  Tosefta 12/11/06   149.   #137 Kyle on netrality 01:01  |  Tony Price 12/11/06   150.   # 134 Maja Roth Swiss revisionism..... 01:05  |  Swiss (Dino) 12/11/06   151.   Differing Interets/Conflict of Interest by Yossi Beilin 01:29  |  J. S. Yaron 12/11/06   152.   live in shame!! kyle 02:38  |  a other swiss 12/11/06   153.   interesting 03:12  |  matt 12/11/06   154.   #136, Tosefta 03:18  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 12/11/06   155.   #134 Maya 03:35  |  Joe Average 12/11/06   156.   to Mr. Matahin 03:49  |  John 12/11/06   157.   #111 Kyle 04:04  |  Joe Average 12/11/06   158.   to Mr. Matahin addendum 04:05  |  John 12/11/06   159.   Tony price and the other Swiss 04:54  |  Kyle 12/11/06   160.   on thucydides #1 & #2 05:00  |  zeev 12/11/06   161.   Tosefta 05:10  |  Danite 12/11/06   162.   Mr. Beilin you have it upside down 05:24  |  Michael H. 12/11/06   163.   to Jeff Northridge #50 05:47  |  zeev 12/11/06   164.   Swiss # 129 So What? 06:04  |  Jeff Northridge 12/11/06   165.   Pacifism 101 06:09  |  Elimelech 12/11/06   166.   U.S. Has Stopped Peace Process! 06:16  |  Lisa Javner 12/11/06   167.   #115 molchi is right 06:35  |  John 12/11/06   168.   To all the Isreal critics 07:01  |  Rope-a-dope 12/11/06   169.   Thanks to Danite and Tosefta! 08:15  |  Jeff Northridge 12/11/06   170.   the end of darkness 08:23  |  justice 12/11/06   171.   Tosefta`s post script 09:10  |  sh 12/11/06   172.   Rope-a-dope 11:21  |  David King 12/11/06   173.   One state = Powerless Jews 23:56  |  Yitzhak 13/11/06   174.   #2 thucydides didn`t read the 2nd last paragraphs 11:07  |  Johnboy 15/11/06   175.   #42 Dr. L Brnd sends Begin spinning in his grave 11:17  |  Johnboy 15/11/06   176.   Bush wants out of Iraq 23:37  |  Maurice M. Assayag 21/11/06   177.   #16 13:28  |  allan 08/07/08

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