As the current joke goes, the United Nations Security Council resolution on Iraq might have moved more rapidly had it not been necessary to translate everything into Hebrew for Ariel Sharon’s approval.
Once again, it is time to think about what the Israelis will do to avoid having to deal with the Palestinian problem — there being no doubt that Secretary of State Colin Powell would like to insist that the Israelis and Palestinians resume their dialogue. Prime Minister Sharon, therefore, will be looking for another opportunity to procrastinate in finding a peaceful resolution to the conflict. While he’s so far been pretty lucky in this regard, that could change. Powell knows that there will be increasing instability, not only in Palestine but worldwide, if something is not done quickly.
Now, with the fires being banked over Saddam Hussein, there exists not just an opportunity, but an obligation to carry out Israel’s withdrawal to its 1967 borders. Thanks to Crown Prince Abdullah’s initiative, now formalized in an Arab League pronouncement, all the preparations are complete to solve the basic conundrum. All that is needed is an American push to get things started. Each time Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories is delayed, things once again spin out of control in the rest of the Middle East.
The Israelis are seeing their window of opportunity for more mischief close. They were anticipating an upheaval if Saddam Hussein fired some of his few remaining Scud missiles at Israel. That, in turn, could create a feverish response by Palestinian sympathizers — which would provide a heaven-sent opportunity for the Israelis to force many more Palestinians out of their ancestral homeland.
Assuming that the Iraqis are demonstrating that they have a clean slate, all the opportunities for Israel to create mischief in the occupied territories will have vanished. Then it is just a matter of finally admitting that Saddam Hussein, cruel and uncouth as he may be, does not pose a threat to the United States.
This could happen quite rapidly — at which point it might be difficult for Sharon to forestall solving the Arab-Israeli problem. So what new pretext will Sharon invent next? If the Bush team will only work together, instead of at cross-purposes — with Vice President Richard Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld on one side and Secretary of State Powell on the other — it would be the beginning of the end for the Israel lobby’s extraordinary influence.
The question of Palestine really is the single most important issue for the two years between now and the 2004 presidential election. It is a make-or-break situation in which Powell almost certainly will have to enlist maximum support, even to the point of making it clear that he would resign if he eventually sees no alternative.
Powell, after all, is the only real star in the Bush administration. His public approval ratings never go down and always are more favorable than the president’s fluctuating popularity. Needless to say, therefore, the Israel lobby will do anything in its power to sideline Powell — who had better keep looking over his shoulder, because the “Israel-right-or-wrong” crowd plays rough and dirty, with no holds barred.
A lot of Israelis realize that their country is badly overreaching. Recently a former Israeli Mossad officer now in the United States called for a halt to this extraordinary behavior. The Arab League plan is acceptable, he argued, and Israel should rest on its laurels. Huge numbers of Israeli peaceniks and American Jews feel exactly the same way. Israel’s power trip is out of control and, if not halted, will lead Israel, not to mention the United States, into total disaster.
Seemingly, Colin Powell and his State Department professionals understand this completely. It also is clear that there may not be another opportunity to start backing away from either Sharon and whoever the next Israeli prime minister may be. If all this is explained thoughtfully to the American public it will be astonishing how quickly most Americans would agree.
There is a certain stream of common sense within the US populace. Most would agree almost instinctively that it is time to rein in Sharon and other Israelis who are pushing the limits and begin to bring common sense to bear on the Arab-Israeli problem.
The professional ‘’ Israel Firsters,” of course, will work unceasingly to block a solution to the Arab-Israeli problem. Many Israelis and Americans, however, realize it is time to stop Sharon’s running amok and the misery of the Palestinians. If the Americans don’t do something very soon, there may not be such another window of opportunity. Increasingly, American allies will disappear, as Europeans, Asians and even Australians and New Zealanders conclude that there is no future for the United States until the Israel lobby ceases its malign influence.
Already, the Arab League has nearly given up on George W. Bush. And for those people who think ahead, there may be little hope for improvement from the Democrats, who are very likely to fall into their usual pattern of making Israel their party’s primary electoral ally in the 2004 elections. Most thoughtful Americans seem to be in a quandary about what to do. Unfortunately, hope will be precluded unless Colin Powell prevails.
— Richard H. Curtiss is the executive editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.
