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The Palestine Peace Distraction

(Wall Street Journal) Richard N. Haass - President Obama recently said it was a "vital national security interest of the United States" to resolve the Middle East conflict. To be sure, peace between Israelis and Palestinians would be of real value. But it is easy to exaggerate how central the Israel-Palestinian issue is and how much the U.S. pays for the current state of affairs. The emergence of a Palestinian state would not affect the power struggles in Iraq or have any effect on Afghanistan. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians would not weaken Iran's nuclear aspirations. The Palestinian impasse did nothing to dissuade Arab governments from working with the U.S. to oust Saddam Hussein from Kuwait in the Gulf War when they determined it was in their interest to do so. Similarly, an absence of diplomatic progress would not preclude collaboration against an aggressive Iran. Nor would al-Qaeda's radical terrorist agenda be satisfied by Palestinian statehood. What is more, any Palestinian state would materialize only amidst compromise. There will be no return to the 1967 borders and there will be nothing more than a token right of return for Palestinians to Israel. Terrorists would see this as a sell-out, and they would target not just Israel but those Palestinians and Arab states who made peace with it. Those urging President Obama to announce a peace plan are doing him and the cause of peace no favor. Announcing a comprehensive plan now - one that is all but certain to fail - risks discrediting good ideas, breeding frustration in the Arab world, and diluting America's reputation for getting things done. The writer is president of the Council on Foreign Relations.
2010-04-26 11:23:32
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