Pam Beach Gardens
There is anger with Israel in the While House: The US president resents being unable to pressure Israel on the settlements issue. The Zionist state continues to acquire Palestinian land by force, and acts with impunity. The occupation hurts current American interests and undermines long term Israeli security. To his dismay, President Obama is aware that not many Jewish Americans are convinced that unconditional support of Israel is counterproductive.
During the recent Vice President’s rent visit to Israel which was intended to energize the much anticipated peace talks, Israel’s Interior Ministry shocked the US delegation by announcing a plan to build 1600 housing units in East Jerusalem. Vice president Joe Biden condemned the Israeli plan and considered it a personal humiliation and a threat to peace. Benjamin Netanyahu, also known by the nickname Bibi, acknowledged the inconvenience his policy has caused the US but he insisted that his people have full right to housing expansion in Jerusalem.
The Bibi-Biden confrontation is not a clash of personal wills; it is rather a symptom of an exclusive US-Israeli relationship. This close alliance between the two states is nonreciprocal: Israel wants to set the parameters of US policy in the region and expects the US President to go along with it. Through its firm hold on the Congress Israel’s lobby ties the hand of the president in setting Mideast policy.
While Israel is the largest recipient of US foreign aid, this small and privileged country acts like it is the benefactor. More US politicians seek the endorsement of Israel than Israeli politicians seek America’s approval. The humiliation of the Vice presidential US delegation in Israel is a testimony to a strange phenomenon of role reversal: a highly dependent state wielding tremendous power over its benefactor.
The Obama Administration is well cognizant of the high price America pays for being symbiotically tied to the Zionist state. But in his first year in office, Obama has learned that confronting Israel’s Washington lobby would cost him heavy political capital.
Obama watches Israel alienates the Arab world further and further from the US. Biden’s condemnation of settlement building expresses the White House sentiment. The White House position reveals a significant divide on Israel between the current Administration and the pro-Israel Congress.
In his recent testimony before the Senate Armed Forces Committee, General David Petraeus, of Central Command, cautioned that the Arab-Israeli conflict destabilizes the region, strengthens Iran and “challenges” US interests.
Controversy over Israel extends beyond the beltway. The Zionist influence on US policy splits American opinion. More than ever before, Americans are aware that Israel, as an occupier of Arab lands, undermines its future security, takes Washington for granted and ignores the impact of American policy on the Muslim world.
When President Obama expressed compassion for the Palestinians in his Cairo speech in June 2009, he sincerely meant to correct the bias in US foreign policy. But as Obama has faced other compelling challenges which needed immediate attention, the Middle East has been put on the backburner for the time being.
Unconditional US support for Israel cannot be defended morally; the occupation may ultimately cause great harm to the Zionist state. More importantly, the continuation of the occupation damages America’s national security, its international image and economic interests.
While Israel’s critics in America remain in the minority they have recently gained some momentum. This trend is growing as Americans observe their economic power declining, their demography changing and their military commitments overstretching.
In the past, the prevailing attitude in America was that Israel can do no wrong. When the book of former President Carter cautioned that Israel may become an apartheid regime, many Americans labeled him anti-Semitic. When professors Mearsheimer and Walt exposed the disproportionate power of the Israel lobby, they were attacked. When the US National Security Advisor James Jones cautioned against unconditional US support of Israel, his loyalty was questioned.
Now it is President Obama, Vice President Biden, Secretary Clinton and Commander Petraeus who are being monitored or criticized for being “hard” on Israel. Even sincere critical Jewish voices are considered “dangerous” to Israel.
The Jewish lobby is extremely defensive and worried about a potential American backlash. Many liberal American Jews are extremely careful about criticizing Israel for fear of being labeled “self-hating”, “disloyal” or “leftists”. But the Jewish conscience remains alive.
A growing segment of the American Jewish community is aware of the risk of going too far in promoting Israel at the expense of America’s strategic interests. Consider J Street. The J Street is a rapidly growing movement of Jewish Americans mobilized to serve Israel’s vital interests without discouraging Palestinian national aspirations. AIPAC, (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) the major Israel lobby, is upset with J Street for rocking the boat of Israel’s impunity. J Street is already cooperating with the American Task Force for Palestine. This form of Jewish-Arab solidarity for social justice has unlimited potential.
Meanwhile, Israel’s formidable machinery of lobbying continues to silence dissent in Washington. On March 21, Netanyahu was in DC to coordinate with AIPAC and prepare for his meeting with President Obama on March 23. Netanyahu may offer Obama a diplomatic package with promises to discuss all issues of the Arab Israeli conflict: borders, refugees, settlements and Jerusalem. But Netanyahu has not changed his basic claim that settlement building must continue and Jerusalem is the unified capital of Israel.
The Bibi-Biden diplomatic crisis may subside soon, if the Obama Administration remains bogged down with domestic issues and Iran continues to distract attention from the Arab-Israeli conflict. Today, March 23, Biden and Bibi are breaking bread in Washington.
This is not the first time the US has expressed dissatisfaction with the Israeli policy on settlements. The record of the last six decades includes no less than half a dozen instances of threats by US presidents to Israel over its misguided policy, particularly on the expansion of settlements
It is difficult to see any signs of hope in the near future for the Arab Israeli conflict. There is a promising possibility which is not ripe yet: A well coordinated effort by the Jewish, Arab and Muslim American communities offering a version of a final-status peace proposal.
There is no force that would neutralize the pro Israel lobby without the cooperation of the mainline Jewish community. Similarly, there is nothing that would soften the hard liners in the Arab world without the involvement of the Muslim world community.
Of all the variables of resolution for this conflict, the American Jewish voice remains as decisive as ever.
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