Israel Matzav

Jose Maria Aznar: A non-Jewish initiative to guarantee a Jewish state

Foreign Policy and the Jerusalem Post both carry interviews with former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar. Both interviews were given on the occasion of the launch of Aznar's Friends of Israel initiative in Washington on Wednesday.

Here are some highlights from the Foreign Policy interview.

JR: How is your initiative different from all other pro-Israel initiatives?

JMA: At one point the question for us was, should we organize a new Jewish lobby, a new Jewish organization? The answer was no. The most important aspect of this idea is that to become a member of the board of this institution it is necessary to be a non-Jew, because what's important is the strategic alliance between Jews and non-Jews. Furthermore, it is not an organization linked to the Israeli government, it's not an organization dependent on the circumstances of the moment. We cannot act in reaction to the crisis in the Middle East because we can say everyday there is crisis in the Middle East. It is necessary to defend the strategic idea. I began in Europe: in Paris, in London, now here in D.C. In the next month I will be in Italy, in Rome, in Spain, in Czech Republic, South America.

JR: What is your view on the relationship between Europe and Israel?

JMA: We are perfectly aware of the situation in Europe regarding the state of Israel. If we defend the values of the West, we can find that the Judeo-Christian tradition is one of the most important values for us. Judeo-Christian values are the same for Jewish people and European Christian people.

What is relevant in this moment is not whether we are Jewish or not Jewish, the problem is to have or know the same strategic concept. And you can explain to the different parts of Europe the situation and why the existence of the state of Israel is so important for our interests. For example, if Israel at one moment disappeared or was attacked as a consequence of threats, the next territory to be confronted directly would be Europe. We share these interests with Israel. It is necessary to explain this to the people, because for the mass media today it is very easy to present things as simply right and wrong, and every day Israel is presented as the wrong option and guilty in all situations.

...

JR: Why do you say that the Obama administration is different from other American administrations on this issue?

JMA: I believe that Mr. Obama thinks that he can move the Muslim world and solve the problems of the Muslim world by making speeches. It is not true. Second, the position of the American administration is more or less that they prefer reaching an agreement with [the Muslim world] that defends Israel... but [their] priority is reaching an agreement with [the Muslim world], not to support Israel's government. So, if [their] priority is that, it is necessary to change the Israeli government and provoke a very strong policy against them. This policy is a serious failure.

And here's the JPost interview.

“To have good relations with the Muslim world is very important, but not at the cost of losing the trust and confidence of the Israeli people,” he said in response to a question from The Jerusalem Post, ahead of a dinner launching his initiative here on Tuesday night.

At an appearance before the Council of Foreign Relations on Wednesday he elaborated on his criticism, describing the current US posture as breaking with that of previous governments.

“All of them were unconditional supporters of Israel. This administration, in my view, is a conditional supporter of Israel,” he said.

Aznar stressed that his three-month-old organization dedicated to combating the delegitimization of the Jewish state was not affiliated with any political party in Israel or elsewhere and that members were free to disagree with the policies of the Israeli government and one another.

Other members include former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, Nobel Peace Prize winner David Trimble of Northern Ireland and former Czech president Vaclav Havel, the newest member of the group. The organization is also seeking participation from prominent US Democrats, and is in conversations with Madeleine Albright and Bill Richardson, both of whom served as cabinet secretaries in the Clinton administration. In addition, a bipartisan group of members of the US House and Senate have proposed resolutions supporting the new initiative.

Joining Aznar at the Council on Foreign Relations was Alejandro Toledo, the former president of Peru who noted that he might seem to be an unlikely ally as a non-Jewish Peruvian Indian from a center- left political party.

But Toledo said that he was committed to Israel’s right to exist because of “shared democratic values,” and because Israel had a right to exist just as his people in Peru had a right to exist.

Aznar's heart is definitely in the right place.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:23 PM