THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume XI, Issue # 127, May 17, 2009
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
OBAMA & NETANYAHU MEET: WHAT'S NEXT?
By Dr. Daniel Pipes
THE FUTURE OF THE U.S.-ISRAELI ALLIANCE: WILL THIS LONG-STANDING ALLIANCE SURVIVE ITS 62ND.YEAR?
WILL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE U.S.A. & ISRAEL OVER THE PROPOSED TWO-STATE SOLUTION PROMPT A CRISIS IN
U.S.-ISRAELI RELATIONS? WILL THE HIGHLY CRITICAL, ANTI-ZIONIST VIEWS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA & HIS FELLOW
LEFTWING LIBERAL DEMOCRATS TRANSLATE INTO A SHIFT IN U.S. MIDDLE EAST POLICY AT THE FORTHCOMING SUMMIT
MEETING BETWEEN OBAMA & NETANYAHU? HOW DEEP DOES OBAMA'S ANTIPATHY TOWARD THE JEWISH STATE
RUN? WHAT FACTORS ARE LIKELY TO MITIGATE THE ANTIPATHY?
FULL STORY:
The meeting on May 18, 2009, of two newly elected leaders, Barack Hussein Obama and Binyamin Netanyahu, raises
a basic question about U.S.-Israel relations: Will this long-standing alliance survive its 62nd. year?
Here are three reasons to expect a break from business-as-usual:
(1) Many areas of difference exist – the Iranian nuclear build-up, relations with Syria, Israeli adherence to the
Non-Proliferation Treaty, and Jews living on the West Bank – but the "two-state solution" will likely set the meetings'
tone, mood, and outcome. The two-state idea aims to end the Arab-Israeli conflict by establishing a Palestinian state
alongside the Jewish state. The plan rests on two assumptions: (a) that the Palestinians can construct a centralized,
viable state and (b) that attaining this state means the abandonment of their dreams to eliminate Israel.
The two-state model found acceptance among the Israeli public between the Oslo accords of 1993 and the new round
of Palestinian violence in 2000. On the surface, to be sure, "two state" seems yet strong among Israelis: Ehud Olmert
enthused over the Annapolis round, Avigdor Lieberman accepts the "Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent
Two-State Solution," and a recent Tel Aviv University poll finds "two states" still remains popular.
But many Israelis, including Netanyahu, disbelieve that Palestinians will either construct a state or abandon irredentism.
Netanyahu prefers to shelve "two states" and focus instead on institution-building, economic development, and
quality-of-life improvements for Palestinians. To this, the Arab states, Palestinians, European governments, and the
Obama administration near-unanimously respond with vociferous hostility.
Question: Will differences over the two-state solution prompt a crisis in U.S.-Israel relations?
(2) Larger strategic concerns consistently drive U.S. attitudes to Israel: Republicans kept their distance when they
perceived Israel as a liability in confronting the Soviet Union (1948-1970) and only warmed to it when Israel proved its
strategic utility (after 1970); Democrats cooled in the post-Cold War period (after 1991), when many came to see Israel as
an "apartheid" state that destabilizes the Middle East and impedes U.S. policies there.
By now, the political parties diverge greatly; polls find Republican support for Israel exceeds Democratic support by an
average margin of 26 percentage points. Likewise, Republicans endorse the United States helping Israel attack Iran far
more than Democrats. With Democrats now dominating Washington, this disparity implies a cooling from the George W.
Bush years. Gary Ackerman (Democrat of New York), chair of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Middle East Subcommittee,
exemplifies this change. Known in years past to stand up for Israel, he now accuses it of perpetuating "settler pogroms"
and thus taking part in a "destructive dynamic."
Question: Will the Democrats' critical views translate into a policy shift at the forthcoming summit meeting?
(3) Obama himself comes out of the Democratic Party's intensely anti-Zionist Leftwing. Just a few years back, he
associated with voluble Israel-haters like Ali Abunimah, Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said and Jeremiah Wright, not to
speak of Saddam Hussein lackeys, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, and the Nation of Islam. As Obama rose
in national politics, he distanced himself from this crew. On winning the American Presidency, he appointed mostly
mainstream Democrats to deal with the Middle East. One can only speculate whether his change was tactical, designed
to deny the Republicans a campaign issue, or strategic, representing a genuinely new approach.
Question: How deep runs Obama's antipathy toward the Jewish state?
Some predictions: (1) Iran being Netanyahu's top priority, he will avoid a crisis by mouthing the words "two-state
solution" and agreeing to diplomacy with the Palestinian Authority. (2) Democrats, too, will be on their best behavior,
checking their alienation through Netanyahu's visit, momentarily averting a meltdown. (3) Obama, who has plenty of
problems on his hands, does not need a fight with Israel and its supporters. His move to the Center, however tactical,
will last through the Netanyahu visit.
Shortterm prospects, then, hold out more continuity than change in U.S.-Israel relations. Those concerned with
Israel's security will prematurely breathe a sigh of relief – premature because the status quo is fragile and U.S. relations
with Israel could rapidly unravel.
Even a lack of progress toward a Palestinian state can prompt a crisis, while an Israeli strike against Iran's nuclear
infrastructure contrary to Obama's wishes might cause him to terminate the bond begun by Harry S. Truman, enhanced
by John F. Kennedy, and solidified by Bill Clinton.
© Daniel Pipes 2009
Originally Published in the Jerusalem Post, May 18, 2009
Republished with the Permission of Daniel Pipes
Reprinted from the Daniel Pipes Mailing List, May 17, 2009
Article URL: http://www.danielpipes.org/article/6365/obama-netanyshu-meet
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Israel & the Arabs -- The Israeli-Arab Conflict
Middle East -- Arabs, Arab States,
& Their Middle Eastern Neighbors
The Middle East & the Problem of Iran
American Foreign Policy -- The Middle East
Islamism & Jihadism -- Radical Islam & Islamic Terrorism
Page Three
Page Two
Page One
International Politics & World Disorder:
War, Peace, & Geopolitics in the Real World:
Foreign Affairs & U.S. National Security
Page Two
Page One
Islamist Terrorist Attacks on the U.S.A.
Osama bin Laden & the Islamist Declaration of War
Against the U.S.A. & Western Civilization
Islamist International Terrorism &
U.S. Intelligence Agencies
U.S. National Security Strategy
Dr. Daniel Pipes, a Ph.D. in Islamic History (Harvard University, 1978), is the Founder and Director of the Middle East Forum,
the Founder of Campus Watch, a signatory of the Project for the New American Century, a former board member of the U.S.
Institute of Peace, a former adjunct scholar at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a Golden Circle supporter of the
U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon, a former member of the U.S. Department of Defense Special Task Force on Terrorism and
Technology, and a former lecturer at the U.S. Naval War College, Harvard University, the University of Chicago, and the
University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Pipes was the Director of the Foreign Policy Research Institute from 1986 to 1993.
Author or co-author of eighteen books, Dr. Pipes is a regular columnist for Front Page Magazine, the New York
Sun, and the Jerusalem Post. His analyses of world trends and of forces and developments in the Middle East
have appeared in numerous North American newspapers, including the Washington Post, the New York Times,
and the Wall Street Journal. He frequently appears on American network television, as well as at universities and
think tanks, to discuss the Middle East, Islam, and the Islamist threat to the U.S.A. and the West. He also has appeared on
BBC and Al Jazeera, and has lectured in approximately twenty-five countries.
Dr. Pipes is a Polish-American Jew whose parents fled Poland in 1939, immigrated to the U.S.A., and assimilated well into
American society and culture. His father is Richard Pipes, an American historian specializing in Russian and Soviet history
and serving as Professor of History at Harvard University from 1950 until his retirement in 1996. During the Cold War, the
worldview of Richard Pipes was strongly anti-Soviet and anti-Communist.
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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