Israeli ambassador contests view of Middle East

Israeli ambassador contests view of Middle East

BY FRANZ BROTZEN
Rice News staff

In a speech titled “Israel and Its Role in a New Middle East,” the Israeli ambassador to the United States challenged the conventional view that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is the crux of the conflict in the Middle East.

Speaking to a full house at the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy Sept. 11, Daniel Ayalon said, “To look at the Middle East only through this prism is wrong and erroneous.”

He cited other conflicts in the region, including Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, Syria’s 30-year military presence in Lebanon and the eight-year war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s as examples of disputes that he claimed had nothing to do with Israel. “It’s not Israel that screws up the Middle East,” he argued. “There are many, many other root causes.”

JEFF FITLOW

Daniel Ayalon, Israeli ambassador to the United States, challenged the conventional view that the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is the crux of the conflict in the Middle East during a visit to the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy.

He said he would like to see the Middle East modernized in terms of technological developments and economic benefits. “I believe the creation of a strong middle class in the Arab and Muslim world would be the key,” he said.

Ayalon has served as Israel’s top diplomat in Washington since 2002 and has served the last three consecutive Israeli governments, most recently as foreign policy adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Ayalon spoke at the Baker Institute under the auspices of its Conflict Resolution Program.

Ayalon described what he sees as the three main challenges in the region: Syria/Lebanon, Iran and the Palestinians. He questioned the widely held belief that Hezbollah prevailed in its recent clashes with the Israeli military, calling the outcome a “decisive” victory for Israel. As proof he cited the removal of Hezbollah from the border, the new political structure in Lebanon and the wide deployment of the Lebanese army.

He reserved his strongest statements for Iran, which he characterized as “the most problematic and the most dangerous issue of our time.” The Israeli diplomat charged that Iran is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and given what he called the Iranian government’s “very extreme ideology,” the result could be “the end of world order as we know it.”

“Since the 1930s, this is the gravest danger for peace and security … to the world,” he said.

He urged a united international effort to confront Iran and suggested a strategy of “political isolation” to undermine the legitimacy of its government among Iranians and noted Iran’s already weak economy.

Ayalon acknowledged there are no easy answers to Israel’s relations with the Palestinians. He said Israel is committed to the creation of a viable Palestinian state, but “without security, you cannot negotiate.” He added that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is willing to meet Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas anytime and without preconditions.

In fact, he called it ironic that secret meetings on releasing “a substantial number” of Palestinian prisoners were under way until Palestinian militants seized an Israeli corporal along the Gaza border in June, prompting a large Israeli military incursion in Gaza and bringing those talks to an abrupt end. “It takes two to make peace,” Ayalon said, “and unfortunately only one to make war.”

He was very critical of Hamas, which won Palestinian general elections earlier this year. Hamas has ignored calls by the U.S. and the European Union to drop its refusal to recognize the Israeli state. “We believe Hamas has to change or be changed,” the Israeli ambassador said.

Furthermore, Ayalon maintained that Palestinian militants continue to pose a real threat to Israeli civilians. “The only reason we do not have buses exploding in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv or Haifa — anywhere in Israel — on a daily basis is not because they do not try,” he said. “It’s because we stop them.”

Still, Ayalon said he remained hopeful for the region. “The risks are enormous. Challenges are great but not insurmountable,” he said.