By Donald Sassano
Special Contributor for In Homeland Security
Given the disruptions on display throughout the Middle East – ISIS, Syria’s civil war, the fracturing of Iraq — is the Israeli-Palestinian (IP) conflict relevant? Indeed, has it ever been?
Gabriel Scheinmann, Director of Policy at the Jewish Policy Center doesn’t seem to think so. In fact, Scheinmann asserts ongoing U.S. efforts to facilitate a peace agreement is a mistake, an exercise in diplomatic shapeshifting, and another example of America’s not so hidden “blame Israel” policy.
Scheinmann casts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the role of a contemporary Copernicus. Like the 16th century Polish astronomer, Netanyahu is seen as a rebellious, solitary rational thinker battling backward-leaning dullards (the whole of the America’s foreign policy establishment, it seems) who insist and persist, despite obvious indications to the contrary, on the importance of IP. Scheinmann supports Netanyahu’s inverted narrative that considers a broader Israeli-Arab rapprochement essential (no doubt at Iran’s expense) before IP can be addressed. No mention is made of the 2000s Arab Peace Initiative that was swiftly rejected by Israel and is still on the table. We all know Copernicus proved the Earth revolves around the Sun and not the other way around. But as observed on many an occasion, fear and implacable hostility to the Islamic Republic of Iran are at the center of Bibi’s solar system. And because peace without peace can be managed, he relegates IP to an ice encrusted outer orbit.
Central to Scheinmann’s narrative is the failure of “linkage theory” — the idea that an IP solution may lead to progress on other regional issues. Of course no social science theory is foolproof. As for linkage, I’ve often doubted whether, say, U.S. “lack of resolve” in Ukraine is a hall pass used by miscreants on the other side of world contemplating anti-U.S. mischief, as some assert. On the other hand, dismissing linkage theory completely ignores the undeniable rise of identity politics and the tendency of globalized peoples to ally themselves within larger religious and ethnic groups. Common sense dictates that no IP accord will solve each and every security issue that separates the two, let alone the problems of the entire region. Nor is the assertion that a two state solution isn’t a panacea so why bother exactly new. Scheinmann cites a 2008 article by Martin Kramer to such effect, and I recall Michael Mandelbaum making a similar case a few years ago. Evangelicals have espoused this view for some time.
Therefore, when Israel truncates Palestinian rights, it really should come as no surprise to Scheinmann that everyday Muslims can react with bitter hostility, much as he strains to deny it. Yes, ISIS and Syria have crowded out other headlines, but IP simmers away under the surface. Reverse that state of affairs and positive outcomes may indeed follow on elsewhere. But only up to a point, as I’ve said. Global actors often make decisions based on discrete circumstances and the U.S. seeks a settlement for a variety of reasons. Some involve linkages i.e., setting the stage to pivot out of the Middle East to Asia, but many are particularistic, including an assessment that Palestine has the right to self-determination, and that Israel’s ongoing occupation and settlement expansion is contrary to American values and international law.
Scheinmann’s “blame Israel” proposition is also untenable, comically so, even beyond the incumbent heehaws that result when comparing Bibi to one of the great minds of the Renaissance. America’s tangible support for Israel has totaled many billions of dollars in (mostly) military aid, and despite its growing wealth and an outsized ability to defend itself, the gravy train continues. Moreover, the U.S. has repeatedly, and often embarrassingly, stuck its neck out to provide diplomatic cover while much of the rest of the world, including consequential U.S. allies, have demurred. Nor has Scheinmann referenced U.S. policymakers’ many criticisms of Palestinian behavior. The U.S. does not blame Israel. Far from it. Rightly or wrongly, America has put its money and its mouth on the line when defending the Jewish State.
Scheinmann’s fanciful arguments are clever and entertaining, but do not stand up to even modest scrutiny. He appears to be yet another agile mind attached to some dubious ideas and unattainable goals. What a waste. We would instead all be better off if he chose to use his gifts to advance a few practical ideas in furtherance of peace.
About the Author
Donald Sassano is a businessman with strong interests in Middle Eastern politics, U.S. Grand Strategy, and political theory. He completed his Master’s Degree in International Relations and Conflict Resolution with a concentration in Comparative and Security Issues at American Military University in 2013.
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