Israel Matzav

The 'new' Obama is more of the same

There are a lot of people out there who believe that President Obama's seemingly warm embrace of Prime Minister Netanyahu three weeks ago, means that President Obama now recognizes (finally) that the most pressing issue in our region - indeed in the world - is the potential of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Caroline Glick argues that President Obama's upgrade of the PLO's diplomatic status in Washington last week proves that in fact nothing has changed, and Obama is as non-pragmatic - and as hostile to Israel - as ever.

While this step does not constitute US recognition of a Palestinian state in the absence of a peace treaty between the Palestinians and Israel, it certainly sends a clear signal that this is the direction the US is heading. As such, it represents a dangerous step that will encourage continued Arab hostility.

TO PUT this move in perspective, it is worth comparing the PLO's new status to that of the US's firm ally and fellow democracy - Taiwan, the Republic of China. Whereas the PLO now has a "delegation general" in Washington, Taiwan has the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office."

When asked to comment on the move, White House spokesman Thomas Vietor said, "This decision reflects our confidence that through direct negotiations, we can help achieve a two-state solution with an independent and viable Palestine living side by side with Israel. We should begin preparing for that outcome now, as we continue to work with the Palestinian people on behalf of a better future."

Like the decision itself, Vietor's explanation signals that the Obama administration has not embraced pragmatism over ideology. Vietor could never have made his statement if it had.

Any pragmatic analysis of the situation leads to the clear conclusion that there is little chance of the Palestinians agreeing to a settlement anytime soon. Just this past week Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas escalated still further his already unacceptable preconditions for direct negotiations.

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In line with this, if the US intends to recognize a Palestinian state formed in the framework of a negotiated peace settlement, then it is utterly ridiculous, in the face of Abbas' latest pronouncements, for it to upgrade the Palestinians' diplomatic status. The move makes sense only if the US is secretly preparing to help the Palestinians avoid negotiations and obtain a state that is not established in the framework of a peace treaty.

But then, an administration that is willing to recognize a Palestinian state outside the framework of a peace agreement is an administration that is motivated by ideology and not by pragmatism. Moreover, it is motivated by an ideology that is fundamentally opposed to a strong democratic Israel.

This is the case because there is no Palestinian leader - not the US favorites Mahmoud Abbas and Salam Fayyad and not their competitors in Hamas - who accepts the legitimacy of the Jewish state. And so any state formed outside the framework of a peace treaty will be in a de facto state of war with Israel. Indeed, its legitimacy with the Palestinian people and other Arabs will be defined by its commitment to the eventual destruction of the Jewish state. And now, by upgrading the PLO's mission, the Obama administration is actively encouraging just such an outcome.

OBAMA'S DECISION shows that he has not allowed reality to interfere with his perception of the absence of a Palestinian state as the most urgent problem he faces in the Middle East. He has adopted other measures that indicate that he remains fundamentally unconcerned about the threat that Iran poses to both US national security and to regional security in the Middle East.

Read it all.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:26 PM