Ex-U.S. official lauds Lieberman for 'narrowing gap' with developing world

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman's recent efforts to shift diplomatic attention away from the United States in favor of bolstering ties with developing nations Tuesday received the emphatic approval of an unlikely supporter - former U.S. under secretary of state Stuart Eizenstat, a one-time advisor to former president Jimmy Carter.

"I do strongly support Lieberman's policy of strengthening ties with developing countries," Eizenstat told Haaretz Tuesday in Jerusalem, ahead of his speech Wednesday on the subject at the President's Conference.

"We are in a rare period of a dramatic shift of power from the U.S. and Europe to countries in Asia and Latin America," added Eizenstat. In a recent policy paper he authored, Eizenstat ranks this as the most important trend, listing five "mega-trends" Israel is currently facing.

Eizenstat wrote the paper for the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute - a Jerusalem-based think tank which, as of this month, he has been appointed to chair.

"This historic demarcation means the narrowing of the gap between Israel's chief and most dependable ally and countries like China, Brazil and India, that do not have a history of close ties with Israel, and countries which in some cases have stronger ties with Iran," said Eizenstat.

In his southern drawl, the Atlanta-born Jewish diplomat added that "Lieberman may be doing what he's doing because he has his own difficult relationship with the U.S. because of his own policies."

However, according to Eizenstat, who was responsible for the economic dimension of the peace process during the administration of Bill Clinton, criticism leveled at Lieberman for investing efforts in developing ties with African and Latin American countries at a time of discord with the United States "is not fair or appropriate." "Far from being ridiculed, his policy should be [recognized] as a diversification of relations, which keeps the U.S. in the center while forging closer ties with other partners," says Eizenstat, who will be soon be publishing a book on this trend and others.

If Israel forms "special relations" with other countries, it will serve to improve U.S.-Israeli relations, he explains. "That way the U.S. will not have to be the only one defending Israel in UN votes and putting its finger in the dyke."

Other mega-trends which Eizenstat lists as crucial elements requiring the attention of Israeli policy makers include - in order of importance - globalization, Islamic extremism, nuclear proliferation, demography and "the rise of a new form of anti-Semitism and anti-Israeli sentiment."

In concluding his 46-page document on mega-trends which formed the basis for the new book, due to appear in 2010, Eizenstat writes that "while making peace with the Palestinians is the major part" of certain problems, "Israelis must make peace with themselves over the peace process."

This, according to Eizenstat, includes accepting the legitimacy of voices like that of J Street - a controversial body critical of Israel's policies, which describes itself as a "pro-Israel, pro-peace lobby" and which calls on the United States and Israel to "find ways to engage Hamas."

But Avinoam Bar-Yosef, founding director-general of the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute - which was established by the Jewish Agency in 2003 - is unconvinced. "As long as J Street continues to push views that run contrary to those of the majority of American and Israeli Jews, I can understand Israeli officials' reluctance to meet with them," Bar-Yosef said.

"Of course I would accept an invitation to speak with J Street people, and I have in the past," Eizenstat said when asked about the unanswered invitation J Street extended to Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, ahead of a conference planned for next week.

"J Streets provides a legitimate outlet for more liberal-minded Jews," added Eizenstat. "I do not agree with all of their policies, but theirs is a legitimate voice among the plethora of Jewish voices which does not merit any negative treatment."

While "it is up to the Israeli government to decide" whether to attend the conference, "it could be useful if Israeli officials could educate people who have taken the positions held by some of J Street's supporters," he added.