Daily Alert Archives

Obama Toys with Cutting Israel Adrift in the Security Council

(Weekly Standard) John R. Bolton - Immediately after Israel's March 17 election, Obama administration officials threatened to allow (or even encourage) the UN Security Council to recognize a Palestinian state and confine Israel to its pre-1967 borders. The administration leaks in effect threatened "collective punishment" as a weapon in U.S.-Israel relations. But more important, exposing Israel to the tender mercies of its Security Council opponents harms not only Israel's interests, but America's in equal measure. America's consistent view since UN Security Council Resolution 242 concluded the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, is that only the parties themselves can structure a lasting peace. Deviating from that formula would be a radical departure from a bipartisan Middle East policy nearly half a century old. In fact, Israel's "1967 borders" are basically only the 1949 cease-fire lines. Only negotiation could leave the parties content; externally imposed terms could only sow future conflicts. Hence, Resolution 242 does not call for a return to the prewar boundaries, but instead affirms the right of "every State in the area" to "secure and recognized boundaries." Ignoring this fundamental reality is fantasy. U.S. interests extend beyond personalities and temporary frustrations. The global harm that will be done to common U.S. and Israeli interests through Security Council resolutions if Washington stands aside will extend far beyond the terms of one prime minister and one president. A Palestinian statehood resolution would terminate all bilateral Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. What would there be to talk about? The writer, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, served as U.S. ambassador to the UN.
2015-03-30 00:00:00
Full Article