A Decisive Showdown

Obama must put a stop to the Israelis’ defiant policy of settling in Jerusalem.

The meeting in Washington between Barack Obama and Benjamin Netanyahu has served to underline the discrepancies between Israel and its principal ally and protector concerning the unstoppable Jewish colonization of eastern Jerusalem. Beyond the tension between the two allies, which is caused by circumstance, the obstinacy of the prime minister is forcing Obama to act. If the president of the U.S. loses a showdown on an issue that attracts worldwide attention, this would threaten not only his policy in the Middle East, but the entirety of his foreign policy.

It would seem that despite his declarations, Netanyahu does not believe in the two-state solution, and it is for this reason that he is not putting a stop to the settlements. The leader of the Israeli government — who has already forced Obama to go back on his initial intention to temporarily stop the colonization in order to give peace a chance — is continuing expansion into Jerusalem, where even yesterday more building was announced. His argument of an eternal Jewish capital does not hold water. East Jerusalem is not part of the Israeli borders recognized before the war of 1967, and the UN has never recognized this annexing. The announcement made weeks ago, coinciding with the visit of the U.S. president, that 1,600 new housing blocks will be built constitutes another provocation that moves understanding with the Palestinians even further away. Netanyahu, however, knows that the two-state solution is the only possible solution, unless Israel wants to put in place a new apartheid, denying the vote to Palestinians who live in occupied territory.

Obama started his term with the intention of involving himself into the conflict until the situation was resolved. He has since called for reconciliation between the West and the Muslim world, and the time has come for him to draw a line in the sand. Washington is delivering Israel almost $3 billion annually, apart from being the ultimate guarantee of its security. But the intransigence of Netanyahu and the acquiescence of the White House undermine U.S. policy in a critical region, inflaming anti-U.S. attitudes and making things worse in Iraq and Afghanistan. If Obama wishes to claim leadership of the EU, he must enter the arena with the solid foundations of a plan negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians.