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Last update - 14:17 21/04/2008 Dear Diplomat, whose side are you really on? By Akiva Eldar Tags: U.S., Aaron David Miller  In his recent book, "The Much Too Promised Land: America's Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace" (Bantam Books; scheduled to be published in Hebrew translation next week by Yedioth Books), Aaron David Miller relates the following anecdote about his father, Sam Miller: "He once challenged my brothers, sister, and me to name three of our non-Jewish friends who would hide us in the event the Nazis took over America." The black cloud of anti-Semitism constantly hovered over the head of the very successful real estate agent and Jewish philanthropist from Cleveland, whose parents had immigrated to America from Russia. Israel's victory in the Six-Day War of June 1967 filled his heart with pride. Sam Miller was on friendly terms with Israeli prime ministers Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Rabin, and, like them, he believed that Israel could rely only on itself. In the fall of 1990, his son, Aaron David Miller, a U.S. State Department official, met with a group of Jewish leaders in a Washington hotel. Miller, then the young deputy of Dennis Ross, head of the American peace team to the Middle East, reported progress being made under the leadership of James Baker, then secretary of state for George Bush, Sr. One reaction was very unpleasant: "'You're nothing but a self-hating Jew, and your boss is an anti-Semite,' a man from Atlanta shouted at me. 'You ought to be ashamed of yourself.'" (p. 87). As an American and as a Jew, Miller was deeply offended. "'Let's get out of the gutter,' I told Mr. Atlanta. 'If you have problems with U.S. policy, let's talk about them. But don't drag the secretary of state or his staff through the mud while you're doing it.'" Miller writes that many ethnic groups, such as the Irish and the Cubans, are deeply involved in American foreign relations; however, no group in America can compete with the clout of the Jewish community with its influence on centers of power. Advertisement This former senior Jewish official is the first to accuse the U.S. administrations of the last 15 years, both Democratic and Republican, of a bias in the Israeli-Arab conflict. A few years ago, Ross published a book on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East without making any references to the influence of domestic politics in general and the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in particular. Ross said he could not remember even one incident where the American Jewish community coerced the administration to make a move or refrain from making a move connected with the peace process. Although essentially confirming that statement, Miller qualifies it: "But those of us advising the secretary of state and the president were very sensitive to what the pro-Israel community was thinking and, when it came to considering ideas Israel didn't like, too often engaged in a kind of preemptive self-censorship. That several of us happened to be Jewish was less important than the prevailing climate of pro-Israel sentiment that mushroomed under Bill Clinton as the new administration became determined to avoid what it believed to be the far too critical approach to Israel of its predecessors. The emergence of Yitzhak Rabin and Clinton's unique relationship with him, Israel, and American Jews, contributed to sensitivity toward Israel. This affinity and the president's own empathy (he was remarkably sensitive to the Palestinians as well) undermined our willingness to be tough with Israel on settlement activity and made it hard to say no to bad Israeli ideas or to adopt our own, particularly in brokering final status agreements, until too late in the administration." (p. 123) A celebrity in the Arab world In May 2005, after leaving the State Department, Dr. Miller (he holds a Ph.D. in history) wrote an op-ed in The Washington Post with the provocative title, "Israel's Lawyer." Miller, who had been closely involved in the Israeli-Arab peace process over the past two decades, confessed: "Far too often the small group with whom I had worked in the Clinton administration, myself included, had acted as a lawyer for only one side, Israel." (p. 75) The title, "Israel's Lawyer," turned the former Jewish-American official into a celebrity in the Arab world. Two professors, Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer, were quick to add his confession to their harsh indictment of the impact of the American Jewish lobby on U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. With Jimmy Carter, Henry Kissinger, and Baker as his heroes, Miller's book will certainly become the topic of conversation in both the Middle East community and within the American Jewish choir. The veteran national director of the Anti-Defamation League, Abraham Foxman, admitted to Miller that the American Jewish community "wants to exercise power and influence, but we don't like it when people talk about it." (p. 77) Miller says the importance of American domestic politics on U.S. Middle East policy should not be underestimated: "I think that it is time we start talking about it, but we need to do so in a way that is honest and clear and that doesn't engender conspiracies where there are none, or pretend that domestic politics doesn't influence our thinking about the Arab-Israeli issue when it does." (ibid.) One of those theories concerns both the large number of Jewish officials in the administration's Middle East section and the sensitive issue of dual loyalty. In a telephone call I made to his office in Washington, Miller stated categorically that this point has never troubled him; he told me that he had always considered himself to be a Jewish American rather than a American Jew. "Today," he writes in his book, "the issue is no longer whether an American political leader is for or against Israel and a close U.S.-Israeli relationship but the degree to which they are." According to Miller, "Bill Clinton was the most pro-Israel Democratic president since Harry Truman, and George W. Bush is the most pro-Israel Republican president ever." (p. 79) In 2002, then state secretary Colin Powell drafted a declaration that dared to hold Israel, and not just the Palestinians, responsible for bringing an end to the violence in the Middle East. At the very last minute, the National Security Council in the White House and the office of Vice President Richard Cheney vetoed Powell's initiative. "A senior administration official told me," relates Miller, "he heard Powell say, 'They're fucking telling me which way to take a piss and for how long.'" (p. 345) Representing both sides Miller, who collaborated on the first drafts of the road map, initiated by the Quartet (the United Nations, the European Union, the U.S. and Russia) comments: "But few people I know, and I'd put myself at the top of the list, really believed the road map had much of a chance to get the car out of the parking lot, let alone onto the highway." (p. 351) Powell once said to him that he - that is, Powell - was the only one in the administration who ever used the words "road map" or "the Quartet." Regarding Bush, Miller notes: "Colin Powell summed up the president's view best for me: 'I don't want to do what Clinton did because it takes a lot of time. The prospects of success, rather than fear of failure, are really quite low ... and I got two wars going on. Why am I going to fuck around with these people?'"(p. 324) In my conversation with him, Miller stressed he was not against America's special relationship with Israel. If it were not for that relationship, he argued, the telephone would never have rung in the State Department: The Arabs take into account Washington's bias toward Israel. That was one of the reasons, he claimed, why the late Egyptian president, Anwar Sadat, wanted Carter to broker a deal between Egypt and Israel. However, unlike Clinton and Bush, Carter - like Kissinger in an earlier era and Baker in a later one - played the role of the "mature adult." They understood Israel's needs; however, Miller said, instead of turning into Israel's lawyer, they served as a lawyer who represented both sides. Miller is convinced that, if Bush, Sr., and Baker had remained in the administration and if Rabin had not been assassinated, Israel would have signed at least one more peace agreement , with the Palestinians or with the Syrians. Incidentally, Miller was never able to name three non-Jewish friends who would have hidden him if the Nazis took over America. For more Jewish World news and features Bookmark to del.icio.us   JDate wins the 'Oscars' The leading Jewish dating Web site is an official honoree of the Webby Awards. 'Worse than Nazi camp' A Libyan envoy to the UN says the situation in Gaza is worse than in concentration camps.   1.   Being an honest broker 13:02  |  WWACD 21/04/08   2.   And how many Jewish Israeli`s would hide an Arab, I wonder? 13:26  |  Chanalau, Tova 21/04/08   3.   Mr. Miller is so recieving money from the Saudis 14:01  |  Esther 21/04/08   4.   Miller is only allowed comment about Jews but not the dangers 14:06  |  Schmuel 21/04/08   5.   Number 2 Halilah. Try the Knesset. 14:08  |  Esther 21/04/08   6.   Confirmation 14:08  |  W 21/04/08   7.   #2 , Chanalu,..try THOUSANDS of Lebanese Christians 14:10  |  David 21/04/08   8.   Pres Obama will clean the US administration from zionist mafia 14:12  |  Aounist 21/04/08   9.   Unfortunately 14:23  |  Janice 21/04/08   10.   Miller Historian? 14:29  |  Buzaglow 21/04/08   11.   AOUNIST.The USA allows everybody to lobby 14:38  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   12.   Jewish liars for money. 14:41  |  naro 21/04/08   13.   Not Surprising, it is Jews who runs US Middle East policies 14:42  |  El-Birawi 21/04/08   14.   Of course the US is pro Israel 14:56  |  Jim Black 21/04/08   15.   Biased towards Israel? Shocking revelation 15:08  |  Ben 21/04/08   16.   Dispaying your own ignorance - #2 Chanalau 15:15  |  Hanoman 21/04/08   17.   i am an utter rightwinger 15:24  |  harzion 21/04/08   18.   Schmuel 15:28  |  Capitol Hill 21/04/08   19.   it is not healthy to stop people having their say 15:30  |  harzion 21/04/08   20.   He Misses the Bigger Picture 15:30  |  guy 21/04/08   21.   El-Birawi - You should read the book first 15:35  |  surreal 21/04/08   22.   what self serving drivel; Mr Atlanta was right... 15:37  |  r 21/04/08   23.   Another false "Esther" 15:42  |  Esther 21/04/08   24.   Kudos for exposing a Bias we all know favors Israhell 15:43  |  POP 21/04/08   25.   Of course we are!!!! 15:46  |  Bob 21/04/08   26.   #8 Aounist, in your wet dreams 15:47  |  Bob 21/04/08   27.   CHANALAU Israel also took in Moslems from Serbia 16:11  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   28.   #22 R 16:18  |  George Kaplan 21/04/08   29.   MILLER should check out the access Saudis have to Pres.Bush 16:21  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   30.   Tip of the iceberg 16:23  |  Natallie Durson 21/04/08   31.   ON the other hand the UN General Assembly is an Arab toy 16:27  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   32.   Miller 16:28  |  paul 21/04/08   33.   Miller disgusts me 16:28  |  Nechama 21/04/08   34.   #10 Re: Historian Miller 16:36  |  Brad Leigh 21/04/08   35.   WHO is stopping the whinning losers here from lobbying? 16:40  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   36.   #16 lEARN SOMETHING 16:43  |  brad leigh 21/04/08   37.   My Jewish mate 16:49  |  Marilyn 21/04/08   38.   Jim Black, what a clown 16:53  |  Marilyn 21/04/08   39.   To Schmuel #4 16:57  |  Jim Brooks 21/04/08   40.   Chanalunatic: Asking Questions That Don`t Matter 17:05  |  Tex 21/04/08   41.   Islam will always be an enemy of christians 17:06  |  rich 21/04/08   42.   Cluesless Miller 17:09  |  Gene 21/04/08   43.   El-Birawi: Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Goose 17:10  |  Tex 21/04/08   44.   miller pens a book about abject stupidity 17:20  |  v hardman 21/04/08   45.   whose side? 17:32  |  Shmuelshachor 21/04/08   46.   I applaud his honesty 17:32  |  aaron 21/04/08   47.   Sureal Tex. I know what I am talking about! 17:40  |  El-Birawi 21/04/08   48.   MARYLIN the state is fine and Jews do their own fighting 17:46  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   49.   What Israel needs to know 17:46  |  Danite 21/04/08   50.   Haaretz attitude 17:53  |  Gene 21/04/08   51.   Miller - This is What You Can Expext in an Obama Administration 17:55  |  Tod Zuckerman 21/04/08   52.   #49 danite confuses appeasement with policy ! 17:57  |  v hardman 21/04/08   53.   EL BIRAWI the US was pro Israel in 1948? 17:59  |  PETER SM 21/04/08   54.   14 jim Black,what about the death and destruction that the Crime 18:04  |  lakshmi 21/04/08   55.   Ireland and Arab nations deal harshly with traiters 18:12  |  B (The other one) 21/04/08   56.   Answer the question! 18:15  |  Chanalau, Tova 21/04/08   57.   unbiased lawyer 18:15  |  Edifice 21/04/08   58.   Powell Dropping F-Bombs 18:32  |  Rowan 21/04/08   59.   EL BIRAWI, a lesson on history 18:35  |  AliciaYasmeen 21/04/08   60.   Follow the money from Cleveland to Damascus 18:37  |  Alex 21/04/08   61.   El-Birawi #13 18:42  |  Eli 21/04/08   62.   # 2Chanalau Tova, Why are you lying straight in poeples face 18:49  |  Max Zinger,P.Chimist 21/04/08   63.   miller has it backwards 18:49  |  elliot 21/04/08   64.   Very important article!!! 18:53  |  ariel 21/04/08   65.   What can you expect when all senior advisors are Jewish 18:59  |  Tosefta 21/04/08   66.   madam wanker lakshmi 19:05  |  dimple kapadia 21/04/08   67.   tosefta and madeline albright 19:11  |  harzion 21/04/08   68.   There are no Jews in Bush cabinet 19:14  |  B (The other one) 21/04/08   69.   v hardman 19:17  |  danite 21/04/08   70.   Miller time 19:22  |  yossi stein 21/04/08   71.   What`s comic 19:25  |  Colin Wright 21/04/08   72.   The Book isin Fact More Nuanced Than That 19:25  |  Question Mark 21/04/08   73.   re #14 `Of course the US is pro-Israel` 19:32  |  Colin Wright 21/04/08   74.   Miller Harming Israel to make a Buck 19:36  |  Fortunee 21/04/08   75.   Miller paid by the Arabs to write harmful book? 19:39  |  Liliane 21/04/08   76.   MILLER SERVING ANTI-ISRAEL AGENDA OF STATE DEPT ARABISTS 19:42  |  G. Marcus 21/04/08   77.   Miller the Moron 19:48  |  Will 21/04/08   78.   Question Mark. What difference? 19:49  |  John Syracuse 21/04/08   79.   Silly twaddle 19:49  |  Mark Lincoln 21/04/08   80.   Tosefta - not "Jewish Enough." 19:54  |  Mark Lincoln 21/04/08   81.   AliciaYasmeen-in 1948 #59 (Lesson on history) 20:03  |  John Syracuse 21/04/08   82.   Esther 20:04  |  H 21/04/08   83.   Peter SM 20:05  |  Mark Lincoln 21/04/08   84.   El-Birawi`s insights 20:12  |  Doc 21/04/08   85.   Jim Black of Atlanta 20:13  |  Maki 21/04/08   86.   Why the United States supports Israel 20:15  |  Mikey 21/04/08   87.   Why the United States supports Israel part 2 20:25  |  Mikey 21/04/08   88.   What the Book Says, Part 2 20:26  |  Question Mark 21/04/08   89.   re 80 mark lincoln 20:29  |  Mikey 21/04/08   90.   Danite`s Predictions 20:30  |  Doc 21/04/08   91.   clinton has a pro-terror bias 20:36  |  Avram 21/04/08   92.   I got one headline for you 20:40  |  Tarek 21/04/08   93.   To those who say the US supported Israel before 1973 20:41  |  Mikey 21/04/08   94.   Mr. Miller hero is the Jew hater Carter 21:04  |  Tomas 21/04/08   95.   Who cares about Mr. Miller ? 21:17  |  Fortuna Benmayor 21/04/08   96.   The role of the US president is to support Israel 21:30  |  janice 21/04/08   97.   Nothing to be shameful about, Admit that Jews run the show 21:34  |  El-Birawi 21/04/08   98.   THE DIPLOMAT IS ON HIS OWN SIDE 21:38  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/04/08   99.   Israel is the pariah country.... 21:41  |  betz55 21/04/08   100.   Jewish ex-aide to Bill Clinton accuses U.S. of pro-Israel bias 21:42  |  Oil Lobby 21/04/08   101.   Jes are expert at every thing, Please leave something for us 21:45  |  El-Birawi 21/04/08   102.   PITY WHAT JEWISH CHILDREN ARE TAUGHT: HATE, FEAR 21:50  |  JACKAL 21/04/08   103.   Janice - You are 100% Correct! 21:54  |  Bill 21/04/08   104.   The good thing about talking to Israelis is that you don`t have 22:09  |  Andreas 21/04/08   105.   #69 danite replies on non fact and no history 22:11  |  victor hardman1 21/04/08   106.   #97 El-Birawi 22:16  |  Question Mark 21/04/08   107.   Colin Wright re: "Of course..." 22:27  |  hollingsworth 21/04/08   108.   Israel could never match Saudi influence 22:41  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 21/04/08   109.   Miller is a self-hating moron 23:21  |  Roni 21/04/08   110.   we are taught jews good arabs bad 23:23  |  billy jack 21/04/08   111.   #104 Kohn says drop American suupport 23:35  |  Labhras 21/04/08   112.   Cipora what are you smoking???? 00:03  |  Janice 22/04/08   113.   #99 Your name fits! 00:08  |  OBSERVER 22/04/08   114.   #97 YAWN 00:09  |  OBSERVER 22/04/08   115.   #94 re;MILLER 00:13  |  OBSERVER 22/04/08   116.   To #2: ME AND I KNOW AT LEAST 3 OR 4 MORE. STOP blaming what you 00:15  |  Alain 22/04/08   117.   To #2: ME AND I KNOW AT LEAST 3 OR 4 MORE. STOP blaming what you 00:15  |  Alain 22/04/08   118.   #85 MAKI 00:18  |  BREITLING 22/04/08   119.   Kapos had feelings too 00:26  |  peter 22/04/08   120.   You people are nuts 00:35  |  Michael Kaye 22/04/08   121.   Doc 00:35  |  Danite 22/04/08   122.   victor hardman 00:37  |  Danite 22/04/08   123.   Well, ML Tosefta is certainly Jewish enough for you 00:45  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 22/04/08   124.   Another Clinton whistle-blower 00:47  |  Joe 22/04/08   125.   So What is This Artical About 01:25  |  Ron 22/04/08   126.   Dear Diplomat 01:40  |  Harvey E. Bines 22/04/08   127.   This is an accusation? 02:00  |  Colin Wright 22/04/08   128.   Another Jewish whistle-blower 02:25  |  Joe 22/04/08   129.   To Mark Lincoln: Thank G-d the us is Pro IL 03:13  |  Abraham Saks 22/04/08   130.   Jewish self-segregation leads to mental illness 03:14  |  Nelson Rappaport 22/04/08   131.   To Mark Lincoln: Pt 2 03:17  |  Abraham Saks 22/04/08   132.   #48, PETER SM, the propaganda machine in oz 03:26  |  VIPER 22/04/08   133.   Considering... 03:33  |  Jeff 22/04/08   134.   #16 Please provide backing for your claim Hanoman 03:57  |  MaryRose 22/04/08   135.   So what? 04:10  |  Bill 22/04/08   136.   re 100 Could it happen again jackel? 04:17  |  Alan the real one 22/04/08   137.   try chronology Colin Wright 04:24  |  MaryRose 22/04/08   138.   Zuckerman, it did not take Miller to expose whose fault it was 04:25  |  Palestinian Prince 22/04/08   139.   B, Miller is not betraying his own people 04:26  |  Palestinian Prince 22/04/08   140.   re Another graduate of the clickfool school 04:28  |  Alan the real one 22/04/08   141.   Re 99 betz 55 04:30  |  Alan the real one 22/04/08   142.   The US has two lists 04:39  |  Alan the real one 22/04/08   143.   Non Sequitor 04:40  |  robin 22/04/08   144.   marilyn 04:45  |  terner 22/04/08   145.   marilyn 04:45  |  terner 22/04/08   146.   Mikey - get real 04:59  |  Mark Lincoln 22/04/08   147.   Folks, when it costs Americans will it persist? 05:05  |  Mark Lincoln 22/04/08   148.   `TELL ME...WHERE WILL HE GO?" 05:12  |  SHUVA (RETURN) 22/04/08   149.   #100 JACKAL 06:30  |  OBSERVER 22/04/08   150.   #117 MIKEY . 06:34  |  MD 22/04/08   151.   #126 It is if you want to claim a mantle, Colin 09:09  |  Johnboy 22/04/08   152.   if he`s pro-arab.... FRY HIM (after leaving office) 09:10  |  gomer 22/04/08   153.   i always knew that powell wasn`t pleased 09:28  |  eric 22/04/08   154.   i DO believe i like mr. miller...oh YES indeed! 09:48  |  eric 22/04/08   155.   Profoundly offensive to North Americans 17:44  |  Mark Marshall 22/04/08   156.   #154 WOW eric 23:33  |  Brad 22/04/08

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