A senior Israeli diplomatic official in Boston authored a memo that struck an unfortunate chord with his superiors back home. Nadav Tamir, the consul general in Boston, wrote in a memo that Israel is harming its strategic alliance with the United States over the settlement dispute with the United States. In response, senior foreign ministry officials recalled Tamir to discuss the memo and how Israel news Channel 10 obtained a copy of the document.
The settlement dispute involves the Obama Administrations mandate that the Netanyahu government freeze all settlement activity in the West Bank. While there have been reportedly some break-throughs in negotiations that include a one-year freeze on new settlements but would permit ‘natural growth’ construction for existing settlements.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu continues to maintain that Israel is a sovereign country that should not take orders from any other nation on its internal politics. Vice President Joe Biden previously acknoweldged Israel’s right to make its own decisions, although his comments reflected Israeli policy on bombing Iran’s nuclear facilities. Meanwhile, Obama Administration officials believes that only through confidence building measures a stable peace process can emerge. A settlement freeze would represent the first step in the process.
Effectively, both parties, the Obama and Netanyahu administration officials, advocate legitimate views. Israel should not take orders from any other countries; settlements only hinder efforts towards a peace process based on a two-state solution. Tamir is right that Israel’s antagonism to U.S.-led efforts to bolster the chances of a strategic partnership is only hurting Israel. Throughout this drawn-out struggle with the Obama Administration, public opinion in the United States continues to turn on Israel. Instead of opposing the Obama Administration (as Israelis would say, davka), a compromise on settlement construction would help Israel maintain its sovereignty while also improving the chances of a peaceful solution to the conflict. And if not, then at least Israel could say it adhered to international opinion on settlements and there’s still no solution, giving Israel fodder to resist any future mandates.
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