You may recall the diplomatic storm that raged last week when Vice-President Biden visited Israel and was greeted by news of a new construction project in East Jerusalem. Biden and the Obama team reacted as if this was an unprecedented provocation by Israel and a dire threat to Mideast peace. As The New York Times reported:
The prospects for peace in the Middle East seemed murkier than ever, as a year’s worth of frustration on the part of President Obama and his aides seemed to boil over in its furious response to the housing announcement, which spoiled a visit to Israel by Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. “What happened to the vice president in Israel was unprecedented,” said a senior administration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. “Where it goes from here depends on the Israelis.”
This kind of thing is actually not unprecedented, as the FPA’s Middle East blogger Anna Smushkovich has pointed out, other high level U.S. delegations have faced similar situations and reacted quite differently:
Biden’s reaction to the settlement announcement did not serve any positive purpose. By expressing his outrage, he accomplished exactly what the Right-Wing groups in Israel desire, which is contrary to the desire of most Israelis namely, suspension of negotiations and the continuing of the conflict. Instead of dealing with such announcements as his predecessors James Baker and Condoleeza Rice have, by diffusing the situation and condemning such announcement without actually jeopardizing negotiations, Biden fanned the flames and walked away from the trip empty-handed, as negotiations were suspended by the Arab League.
Given the precedent, we can assume that Biden and the rest of the Obama foreign policy team should have known how to handle the situation, and we can therefore conclude that a decision was made to use the incident to pressure Israel to make concessions and thereby give the peace process the appearance of movement. However, as of this date, no concessions have been made despite the U.S. tantrum.
Today, a missile was fired at Israel from Palestinian controlled Gaza, one person was killed. If the U.S. aspires to be an impartial and honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians then I would expect another tantrum to be forthcoming. We should protest this attack on our ally in the strongest possible terms. After all, which is the greater provocation and threat to peace, announcing a municipal construction project, or launching a missile that kills an actual human being? Let the tantrum begin! Or, perhaps it’s time to grow up, dispense with tantrums, and take a clear and sober-minded look at the real threat to peace in the region: those who have already decided to act on a one-state solution.
Photo Credit: Times Online
