The Obama Administration’s Resolution of Settlements and the “Barrier”

American-Israeli relations have entered a chill. Prime Minister Netanyahu visited the United States, which trumpets its “unconditional support” for Israel. Yet, the White House did not allow reporters to take photographs of Obama shaking hands with Netanyahu. This is an unheard-of state of affairs.

Primary responsibility for this rests on Israel. Israel has continued to build Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which it has occupied since the 1967 war. The term “settlements” may cause one to imagine a small area, but some are large residential complexes that house hundreds of thousands of people.

For Japan, this is “in basic violation of the Geneva Convention,” according to a high Foreign Ministry official. This convention, which deals with the treatment of prisoners of war and of occupied territories, prohibits the immigration of an occupier’s citizens to occupied lands. Successive U.S. administrations have also shown unease with regard to the settlements, calling them “impediments to peace.”

However, early this month, Israel announced new construction plans for East Jerusalem during Vice President Biden’s visit. When the United States criticized the move, Netanyahu, speaking at the meeting of an American pro-Israel group, made his appetite for confrontation clear by saying that “[Jerusalem] is our capital.”

While Netanyahu enjoys strong support from American neo-conservatives and the Republican Party, his friction with the Democratic administrations of both Obama and Clinton has been notable. But will the prime minister be able to deliver peace to Israel and Palestine with such a stubborn mindset? Not likely.

Peace is impossible when the international consensus is ignored. Jerusalem is not the recognized capital of Israel. The International Court of Justice decided that the “separation barrier” Israel is building is “against international law” and the United Nations General Assembly has adopted resolutions calling for its removal. However, just as with the settlement problem, there are hardly any calls from the United States for the removal of the wall.

After the terror attacks on the United States in 2001, the Bush administration made it clear that it intended to fight terrorism, but a mindset that asked what promotes terrorism was lacking. It is said that the terror mastermind, Osama bin Laden, thought of planning terrorist strikes against the United States out of anger at Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982.

Whether or not that was the case, it is necessary for us to dispel faulty reasoning in order to prevent terrorism. The United States defends actions by the Israeli army that lead to countless deaths and vetoes United Nations Security Council resolutions that are unfavorable to Israel. That has been the U.S.’s status quo lately, but it will be difficult to uproot terrorism without addressing patent irrationality and absurdity.

Support for Israel is strong in the U.S. Congress, which is considering the Jewish vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. However, if the United States disregards its reputation as a champion of justice, terrorism will grow rampant and extremists will take heart. We would do well to remember that the brunt of this will be borne by allies such as Israel and Japan.