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Don't Link Military Aid to Political Support of Israel
(VOA News) Interview with Elliott Abrams - Elliott Abrams, senior fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told VOA it is unlikely the 2011 deadline for a peace agreement suggested by the Obama administration will be met by the Israelis and Palestinians. "They have been negotiating for a very long time and they have not been able to overcome the differences on some critical issues like Jerusalem or security arrangements," said the former foreign policy advisor to U.S. Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. "It may be too optimistic to expect the Israelis and Palestinians to come to an agreement by 2011 on all issues which separate them when they have not yet started negotiations." Abrams told VOA he opposes the U.S. plan to provide American warplanes to Israel in exchange for an extended freeze on West Bank settlements even though he is not opposed to military aid to Israel. "It is the linkage." he says. "The Israeli agreement to extend their construction freeze in the West Bank by 90 days is now linked to a squadron of jets and to U.S. vetoes in the UN Security Council." He said the U.S. should be making decisions in the Security Council on the basis of principle. "If it is a bad resolution we should veto it," he says. "Similarly, the U.S. should give Israel what it needs, but it should not be linked to a 90-day extension of the freeze." "We in the U.S. are in favor of establishing a Palestinian state," said Abrams, "and they (the Palestinians) would be the main beneficiary of returning to the negotiating table, yet they are the ones refusing to go to the negotiating table."