http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1005029.html
An agenda for a friend of Israel
By Haaretz Editorial
Tags: Israel, Barack Obama
Barack Obama came to Jerusalem to
deliver an old message on the need to
"reaffirm the historic and special
relation****p between the United
States and Israel,
one that cannot be broken."
Even if Israel's security is hinged
on its close relation****p with the
U.S., this is not enough.
The significance of these ties is
in their ability to serve as leverage
for the goal of reaffirming Israel's
security.
Regional threats require more
aggressive diplomatic activity,
which the Bush administration
has failed to propose or implement.
Obama offers the American voter "something new."
Therein lies his charm.
Israel and the rest of the
region's countries need
diplomatic innovation as well.
But it seems that Obama -
like his opponent John McCain
and like U.S. President
George W. Bush before him -
is attempting to assure potential
Jewish voters at the expense of
promoting the peace processes in the region.
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It seems Obama is putting extra
effort into allaying the suspicions
of the Jewish community,
which is distrustful of
him because of his "Muslim past,"
and because of the relatively
balanced viewpoints that he
demonstrates vis-a-vis the
dispute in the Middle East.
Upon arriving in Jerusalem,
Obama spoke of the "profound"
joint security related challenges.
He assured listeners that even
though he viewed the peace process
with Syria as very im****tant,
"I would never tell you to do
something which would compromise
your security."
In addressing the terrorist
attack in Jerusalem on Tuesday,
Obama was content to make a
general observation that it
was proof of the need to
"to work together in all
urgency to prevent the
recurrence of such incidents."
The history of Israel's
relation****p with the U.S.,
primarily since 1967,
attests to the flimsy connection
between public statements by
presidential hopefuls -
and even their explicit pledges
right before the ballots are counted -
and the Middle East policy they adopt
upon taking office.
One of the prime examples was
the commitment to relocate the
U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to
Jerusalem by 1999.
Although this initiative was
passed into law 13 years ago,
Bill Clinton and George Bush
used their authority to put
its implementation on hold.
The hope is that Obama left
Jerusalem and Ramallah with
a deeper understanding of the
need to shelve the flowery
statements that his Jewish
affairs advisors had devised for him,
if he is to truly be "a friend of Israel."
One should keep in mind that
the interests of the Israel
lobby in America do not always
jibe with the interests of the
State of Israel.
Instead of talking about a
"united Jerusalem," he needs to
become involved in finding a
realistic solution for Israel's
torn and bleeding capital.
To survive as a Jewish
and democratic state,
Israel needs an American leader
who does not fear the reaction
of American Jews and non-Jews who
do not believe in dividing the
land to reconcile its two peoples.
A friend of Israel, for example,
would be a president who brings
Syria and Israel to the negotiating room,
and pours some real substance into Bush's
statement about wanting to end the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
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