Firm despite differences
Friday, 12 June 2009 09:15
David Harris for Xinhua News
If one reads the latest international headlines, one could be forgiven for thinking that the relationship between the United States and Israel is at a crisis point. The long-time allies appear to be farther apart than ever.U.S. President Barack Obama chose to visit Saudi Arabia and Egypt last week, skipping over Israel.
His first venture eastwards since becoming president included a trip to Turkey in April. In both Istanbul and Cairo, he addressed the Muslim world, trying to bridge the gap between the U.S. and the Islamic world.
Israelis and Jews all over the world have been expressing their concerns that Obama is taking American policy away from the traditional warm relationship with Israel and heading with open arms towards Israel's sworn enemies, including Iran.
That is the media spin, at least.
Yet in private conversations, officials in Washington and Jerusalem are quick to say the truth could be nothing further from this.
Sure, they say, there are policy differences, particularly on the thorny subject of Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, but on the whole, the two countries see eye-to-eye on most issues, and in long term the pair are very much in sync
there are policy differences, particularly on the thorny subject of Israeli settlement activities in the West Bank, but on the whole, the two countries see eye-to-eye on most issues, and in long term the pair are very much in sync
"There's been a lot of press ado about public disagreement on a very specific and pinpointed issue, certainly not a minor issue, but one on which the U.S. is only reiterating its traditional policies and this is something we are working on with our American counterparts," Israeli Foreign Ministry Spokesman Yigal Palmor told Xinhua.
The settlement issue is currently dogging progress in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, with leading Palestinians joining Obama in calling on Israel to stop all settlement activity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to address the settlement issue when he delivers a keynote speech on Sunday. Thus far, Netanyahu's public comments and those of his closest political allies suggest an unbending stance.
There is no talk of a two-state solution, which means Netanyahu has not yet said he believes the Palestinians are entitled to a state.
On the settlement issue, the Israeli prime minister has made it clear he will try to dismantle illegal outposts but favors the expansion of existing settlements to take into account the "natural growth."
"We will not agree to freeze life in the settlements," Netanyahu told Israeli lawmakers earlier this month.
Israel is looking for a commitment from the U.S. to allow major settlement blocs to remain in any final-status agreement with the Palestinians. That would automatically allow for "natural growth." So far that commitment has not been forthcoming.
Some argue that even this difference of opinion is the result of Americans wanting the best for Israel.
"Maybe it is necessary at this moment in history, and unavoidable, for American Jews and Israelis to endure in the short term some discomfort with this rhetoric and sympathetic approach to the Arab and Muslim peoples in order to achieve the longer term and enduring the objective of peace that most Israelis crave and need," Lanny J. Davis, a special counsel to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, wrote in The Washington Times on Monday.
Yet away from this disagreement, ties between the two countries appear as rosy as ever.
"Israel is not going to be abandoned by Obama," said Hillel Schenker, Vice President of Israeli Democrats Abroad.
"Every presidential administration, whether Democrat or Republican, will continue to maintain what is known as a 'special relationship' with Israel," added Schenker, who co-edits the Israel-Palestine Journal.
The analysts agree this bond is unbreakable and its foundation goes far beyond any particular political difference.
"Both America and Israel are immigrant societies, which have created a new nation out from people that come from different parts of the world. The United States is considered a Judaeo-Christian society, which relates to the Holy Scriptures; and, of course, geopolitical strategy -- the United States has an ally in a very important region," Schenker suggested as the key reasons for the U.S. interest in the relationship.
Palmor offered several key reasons why strong ties are paramount for Israel. One is that the Jewish state is a small country and needs support from individual nations and alliances abroad.
Another reason is that peace between Israel and its neighbors can only come about strongly supported by a world power, said Palmor, maintaining it was because of Washington's wholehearted backing that peace treaties were signed with Egypt and Jordan and talks were held with the Palestinians and Syria.
"The importance of this relationship is also in the very deep commitment of America to do everything it can to promote peace in this region," Palmor said.
However, when it comes to the nitty-gritty of negotiations and diplomacy, all of this counts for little.
The Obama team does expect to see movement from Israel, beginning with Netanyahu's Sunday speech. To that end, special envoy George Mitchell has been in Jerusalem and Ramallah this week, including a four-hour meeting with Netanyahu.
Diplomatic sources in Jerusalem told Xinhua that for the time being, despite the pressure, Netanyahu intends to stick to his guns by defending his settlement policy and not talking up the idea of a two-state solution.
Instead, much of his speech is likely to focus on Palestinian obligations, two of which were referred to in Obama's Cairo speech: ending violence and building credible governmental institutions.
Palmor reminded those who suggest Obama's speech was one-sided given his multiple demands on Israel, that two days later in France, the U.S. president told reporters they were putting too much emphasis on Israeli obligations and not enough on what the Palestinians must do.
In Cairo, Obama insisted that the parties make public what they say in private, adding that was also his intention.
Yet the feeling amongst reporters who cover the Israeli-Palestinian issue is that most of the battles will be fought behind closed doors and the media will be as dependent as ever on leaked information and disinformation to continue to provide splash headlines, which will not always accurately reflect the reality on the ground, including the nature of the relationship between Israel and the United States.
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