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Copyright � 2001 The International Herald Tribune | www.iht.com
EDITORIAL Time for American Jews to tip the balance
The Daily Star The Daily Star
February 28, 2002
Israel and its more ardent supporters have to ask themselves a couple of questions.
For one thing, if an overture from the crown prince of Saudi Arabia is not enough to
break through the walls of mutual mistrust, what would be? For another, with the
prince willing to make such an existential gamble, even as his kingdom passes
through one of the more difficult periods in its history, what might the consequences
be of spurning his advances?
Within the Jewish state itself, clear lines have already been drawn. Prime Minister
Ariel Sharon and most of his hard-line allies are either reacting with stony silence or
maneuvering to sink the Saudi proposal before it ever leaves port. Foreign Minister
Shimon Peres and other moderates are demonstrating a willingness to at least
investigate precisely what Riyadh has in mind. The latter camp needs and deserves
all the support it can get.
The European Union has been instrumental in bringing about the Saudi initiative and
is now actively engaged in both fleshing it out and selling it to the rest of the Arab
world, so its position is obvious. The reaction in official Washington was initially
indifference, but has since coalesced into modest enthusiasm. Several influential
newspaper columnists have sided with the skeptics in Israel, however, as have many
powerful figures on Capitol Hill. Getting Prince Abdullah�s suggestion to work will
require more than just good faith on his part and the cooperation of Peres and his
friends. The White House and the State Department have to be fully on board for this
specific approach, something that will require a major turnaround for an
administration that has studiously backed away from the peace process in general
almost since the day it took power.
For that to happen, the government of the �indispensable nation� will have to receive
a clear message from what on this score is its �indispensable community:� American
Jewry.
US foreign policy is not created in a vacuum. From trade concerns to arms control,
the executive branch takes many cues from Congress, industry, and various
constituencies. When it comes to the Middle East, it is almost impossible to
exaggerate the weight attaching to the opinions of American Jews. Washington�s
�special relationship� with Israel owes much to the hopes legitimate or not and fears
real or imagined of people whose parents and grandparents were persecuted for so
long in Europe that they must still find it difficult to accept that their standing in
America is not a dream.
Now is the time for them to use that power for the good of their co-religionists in
Israel. If they signal their support, Washington will jump wholeheartedly onto the
Abdullah bandwagon. And if they forcefully side with the peace camp in the Jewish
state, it can and will return to power and do what must be done to end what is an
increasingly needless conflict. It won�t be easy, and for some the price will be too
high because it will have to include a solution to the ugly problem of settlements. But
the rewards for Israel will be nothing short of enormous: The benefits to be realized
by Israel if it is finally accepted in the Middle East include recognized and secure
borders, the right of its citizens to live in peace, and the uncaging of an economy
capable of igniting several others around it.
On the other hand, if American Jewry fails to come through, the consequences
threaten to be disastrous. Arab governments cannot indefinitely ally themselves with
the United States even as their citizens become increasingly hostile toward that
country because of its unbending support for Israel. If and when Arab regimes start
falling, no one should fool themselves into thinking that their replacements will be
led
by moderate peaceniks. On the contrary, the long denial of popular will can only
produce radical governments whose actions and words figure to cause Israelis even
more sleepless nights.
Copyright � 2001 The International Herald Tribune
End<{{{~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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