Obama’s rhetorical hands tied on first trip to Middle East

Obama’s rhetorical hands tied on first trip to Middle East

President Barack Obama leaves for the Middle East this week on a mission that must necessarily have low expectations regarding the over-arching conflict in the region, that between Israel and the Palestinians.

The president has little room to maneuver at this point between Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president.

Netanyahu refuses to recognize the baseline position establish by President George W. Bush and followed by the Obama administration, that the Palestinian people must have their own state.

Netanyahu grew up believing in a Greater Israel, that is an Israel that includes all of the territory that is generally seen as part of a Palestinian state — and then some. In addition to his personal inclinations, Netanyahu holds power thanks to support of a right wing coalition that opposes a Palestinian state.

Not only does Netanyahu reject a two state solution, he’s actively pursuing the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank. These settlements are growing into small cities, and it is not difficult to understand why Palestinians see any chance for negotiating a nation of their own diminish with each apartment building that rises in a settlement.

Not that there is anyone on the Palestinian side to negotiate toward a two-state solution at this point. Abbas has placed all negotiations on hold, not only awaiting some sign from Israel that negotiations are feasible, but awaiting word from his political rival, Hamas, that it would recognize Israel’s right to exist beside a Palestinian state.

A broad message

Obama said last week that he will be delivering “a broader message about how the United States can change for the better its relationship with the Muslim world.” But Obama is also going to have to send a message to Netanyahu that Israel must stop expanding its settlements and must be prepared to recognize a Palestinian state.

Israel stands as the only Western democracy in the Middle East and the strongest U.S. ally in the region — a relationship that dates to the Truman years. But Middle Eastern politics has changed dramatically in just the last decade. There are obvious U.S. interests in Iraq, there is the danger of Iran becoming a nuclear power, there is a need for U.S. alliances with the Muslim nations of Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Netanyahu must recognize that the willingness of the American people to support Israel is based on the Israel that most Americans grew up seeing on a map — an oasis for democracy on the shores of the Mediterranean. They do not share Netanyahu‘s expanded vision. Indeed, many in Israel do not share that vision. They recognize that a place called Israel that would someday have more disenfranchised Palestinians within its borders than voting Israelis would not be a democracy. It would not be a nation worthy of the respect and support Israel has gotten from the United States for more than 60 years.

Obama won’t say that on his trip this week. But at some point it needs to be said.