Middle East needs daring leadership from Western politicians

JERUSALEM—Having not been back to this wondrous city for nearly a decade, I had forgotten its magic. From afar, its politics can smother. But walking its ancient streets — so holy to Jews, Muslims and Christians for so long — can be uplifting. Thousands of years of history and so much still survives.

But we can take nothing for granted in this part of the world, and present-day politics always intrudes. Thus, the question: will Jerusalem survive the bizarre partnership of Mitt Romney, casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson and Benjamin Netanyahu?

Having apparently drawn the short straw, I was in Jerusalem when Romney and his gang of well-heeled American Republicans came to town. My visit was part of a three-week personal trip to Israel, Lebanon and Jordan. Overall, it was striking how nervous the region is this summer. Not only are there widespread fears that war with Iran is only weeks away, there is also worry about a third “intifada” among angry Palestinians and the possibility of renewed warfare between Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Israel.

This is not happening merely by chance. There are reasons and one in particular, I believe, rarely gets mentioned. There has been an abysmal failure of leadership regarding the Middle East — not only failure by Israeli and Arab leaders, but also by American and other Western leaders, including Canada’s. If one looks back at the seemingly intractable challenges of recent decades, such as the Cold War and apartheid in South Africa, they were solved largely because particular leaders chose to do daring things, often at considerable political risk, to break the impasse.

And this gets me back to Romney’s odd visit to Israel the other week. In a brief 48-hour period, Romney perfectly embodied the ill-informed, pandering politician whose actions can only serve to make a delicate situation in the Middle East worse. His sidekick, at a breakfast “fundraiser” with about 50 top U.S. Republican donors, was Nevada casino billionaire Sheldon Adelson.

Adelson is strongly pro-Israeli, a generous financial backer to Prime Minister Netanyahu and owner of Israel’s most popular newspaper, Israel Hayom (Israel Today). Although an American, Adelson was once quoted as saying that “the uniform that I wore in the military, unfortunately, was not an Israeli uniform. It was an American uniform.” He also was Newt Gingrich’s biggest backer when he was running for president and encouraged Gingrich to describe Palestinians as an “invented people.”

As Adelson’s power and influence within the conservative movement grows, this is the strange circle in which Romney — and Netanyahu — now find themselves.

From the trip, it may be Romney’s attitude regarding Iran that will be most enduring. In his meeting with Netanyahu, Romney indicated he felt the United States should do nothing to interfere with Israel’s “right” to defend itself against a possible nuclear threat from Iran. In Israel, this was widely interpreted as a “green light” from Romney for Israel to strike Iran.

In recent days, the debate over Iran has dominated Israeli media. Although much of Israel’s military establishment opposes a strike, it is widely believed that Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak favour it and want to strike before the Nov. 6 U.S. presidential elections. Efraim Halevy, former Mossad intelligence chief, recently gave an interview in which he said: “If I were an Iranian, I would be very scared of the next 12 weeks.” His comments prompted two other former Israeli military leaders to suggest they felt an attack was “imminent.”

The obsession in Israel about the Iranian threat continues to dominate public debate. Lost in the public consciousness is the continuing impasse with the Palestinians, and the potential danger that will flow from this.

Earlier this month, the British ambassador to Israel took the unusual step of warning on Israeli television that international support for Israel among the political mainstream is eroding, largely because of expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank and restrictions on Gaza.

Ambassador Matthew Gold, who is a Jew, said Israel was increasingly being seen as “Goliath” against the Palestinians as “David.” He added: “Israel might wake up in 10 years’ time and find out that the level of understanding in the international community has suddenly changed. . . The British public may not be expert, but they are not stupid.”

It is unimaginable that such candour could be heard from a prominent American politician in the current political climate. But when was the last time we heard this honest talk from a Canadian leader?

Original Article
Source: the star
Author: Tony Burman