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The Obama Doctrine for the Middle East and its Consequences

(BESA Center for Strategic Studies-Bar-Ilan University) Jonathan Rynhold - Netanyahu asserted Israel's right to defensible borders, specifically the long-term, interim presence of the IDF along the Jordan River. This would prevent both the smuggling of heavy weapons and missiles into the West Bank and the possibility of amassing the Arab states' armies there. This position is based on the conception that the West Bank's geo-strategic significance to Israel relates not only to Palestinian intentions and capabilities, but also to the wider regional situation. This strategic outlook aligns with the historic position associated with Yitzhak Rabin and endorsed by Ehud Barak. In contrast to the Israeli position, the Obama administration conceptualizes Israeli security vis-a-vis the West Bank in terms of the Palestinians alone. By making a complete military withdrawal dependent on only the Palestinian situation, and not the wider Middle East environment, Obama's vision poses a serious danger to Israel's security, especially in the uncertain and deeply problematic regional environment we see before us right now. The writer is a senior research associate at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies.
2011-05-25 00:00:00
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