On Tuesday, July 6, American President Barack Hussein Obama is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; this visit, initially planned to take place last month, became postponed due to the Turkish flotilla incident off the coast of Gaza. Israel-U.S. relations are at a low point right now and, although both dignitaries will probably portray a nice, sugar-coated image of cordiality, it is extremely difficult for them to reach some good basic understanding – for several reasons.
Firstly, this American administration’s conviction that the peace process with the Palestinians is stalled because of Israel and, therefore, Israel must make more concessions right now. The current Israeli government is usually depicted in Washington as a radical, far-right demon, not ready to accept sacrifices in order to achieve the two-state solution, yet nothing could be further from the truth. The Netanyahu government has made abundantly clear that it accepts the two-state solution and it has done the unthinkable – the announcement of a moratorium on further settlements, including projects in Jerusalem that are not settlements. The real problem here has not been Netanyahu, but actually the Palestinian Authority – always dissatisfied and always asking for more. Nonetheless, the idea of negotiating the partition of Jerusalem is something that nobody in Israel is ready to undertake in this phase and, therefore, to raise the issue is equivalent to planting the seeds of discord for any plausible agreement. The Americans should actually be twisting Abbas’s arm.
Secondly, this American administration’s conviction that Israel is in such a state of paranoia that it cannot see clearly where its real interests are, leading the Jewish state to react inappropriately in affairs such as the flotilla incident. Not to mention that Jerusalem sees things in another light, e.g. how Obama has preferred to engage Iran instead of nurturing the traditional American alliance with Israel; the acceleration of Turkey’s Islamization process while it severs ties with the Israelis; and not only how Israel’s legitimate right to exist is called into question by the Goldstone Report, but also Israel’s right to self-defense against patent aggressions is curtailed and criticized as it happened during the flotilla incident. Obama should know better that even those suffering from paranoia have enemies – and Israel has plenty.
Thirdly, this American administration’s conviction that solving the Israeli-Palestinian problem will turn the region into a sea of tranquility. Since his Cairo speech, Obama has been fostering this message that still pervades in the White House. And nothing can be further from the truth since the history of this region is one of problems and wars, mainly among Arabs.
Finally, the Iran problem. Whereas for Obama’s America, all efforts must lead to the promotion of negotiation and dialogue with the Ayatollahs, the important thing for Israel is to prevent that Iran acquires the bomb. Time is running out and, unless a radical turn of events takes place in Tehran, the moment to decide what to do is just around the corner. If Obama continues rhetorically saying that a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, but his policies reflect that he also finds unacceptable to take any real measure to prevent it, a strategic understanding between the United States and Israel will be impossible to reach.
Netanyahu’s people can hope that a conversation with Obama will make him think things over and that he will finally understand the nature of a complex region in transformation and that, paraphrasing Churchill, you can count on Obama doing the right thing – after he has tried everything else. But the Israeli prime minister could be wrong here. With Obama, it is not a matter of ignorance. The basic problem for Israel is that it has entered a universe without America since the United States is in a process of withdrawal from the world – including the Middle East. Therefore, no matter what anyone does, nobody can change that reality.
