After the Cease-fire in Gaza, America Must Help Rebuild Peace in the Middle East

Published in Tokyo Shimbun
(Japan) on 27 May 2021
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by D Baker. Edited by Michelle Bisson.
It seems a long time ago that the United States took a lead role in promoting peace in the Middle East. Though the war between Israel and Palestine has reached a cease-fire, America has remained in the background throughout the process. It is imperative that the Joe Biden administration signal America's return to rebuilding peace in the region.

When the Islamic organization Hamas, which has de facto control over the Palestinian territory of Gaza, launched rockets, Israel retaliated with airstrikes.

President Biden responded to the armed conflict by coming to Israel's defense, saying that “Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Schools and hospitals were also damaged in Gaza. As the number of civilian casualties, including children, became more serious, criticism of Biden intensified, even from his own Democratic Party. This criticism pointed to the inconsistency of his position, given his harsh criticism of China's Uighur policy from a human rights standpoint.

The Biden administration's line of international cooperation is also not all that it seemed to be. The United Nations Security Council, unable to issue a statement due to opposition from the United States, has descended into dysfunction.

Biden's support for Israel is, in part, due to his aim of returning to the Iran nuclear deal from which the Donald Trump administration withdrew. His recent stance is surely calculated to cause the least friction with Israel, which opposes the agreement.

The Biden administration has made what it judges to be America's “only competitor,” China, its top priority in its foreign policy strategy, and its focus is on the Asia-Pacific region.

Conversely, the lack of motivation for a Middle East peace process that has no foreseeable resolution for the conflict is reflected in the fact that America has no dedicated peace envoy. Despite this, the United States cannot afford to be absent from the table.

The Barack Obama administration, under which Biden served as vice president, envisaged a strategy of withdrawing from the Middle East and shifting toward the growth center of Asia. However, due to the issues in Syria and action against the extremist Islamic State organization, this pivot to Asia was never completed.

If the conflict in Palestine reignites as it has recently, the United States will be left with no choice but to expend a great deal of energy there. Biden may well make the same mistakes Obama did.

The only road to peace is by acknowledging the establishment of a Palestinian state and aiming for a two-state coexistence with Israel. The previous Trump administration, one-sidedly backed Israel, effectively abandoned this vision for peace.

Now, Biden should abandon bias toward either side and fulfill the role of mediator from a truly impartial standpoint.


<社説>ガザ停戦合意 米国は中東和平再建を


中東和平を主導したかつての米国とは今昔の感を覚える。イスラエルとパレスチナの紛争は停戦合意にこぎつけたものの、米国の影は薄かった。バイデン政権は和平再建へ立ち返るべきだ。
 パレスチナ自治区ガザを実効支配するイスラム主義組織ハマスがロケット弾を連射すれば、イスラエルは空爆で報復する−。
 この武力衝突でバイデン大統領は「イスラエルには自衛権がある」とイスラエル擁護に立った。
 ガザでは学校や病院も被害を受けた。子供を含む民間人の犠牲が深刻になるにつれ、足元の民主党からもバイデン氏への風当たりが強まった。中国のウイグル政策を厳しく指弾する人権重視の姿勢とは矛盾していると批判された。
 バイデン政権が掲げる国際協調路線も看板倒れだ。国連安全保障理事会は米国の抵抗で声明がなかなかまとめられず、機能不全を来した。
 バイデン氏がイスラエルの肩をもったのには、トランプ前政権が離脱したイラン核合意への復帰を目指す事情がある。核合意に反対するイスラエルとあつれきを起こしたくないという配慮が働いたのだろう。
 バイデン政権は「唯一の競争相手」と位置付ける中国を外交戦略の最優先課題に据えてアジア太平洋地域を重視している。
 一方、出口の見えない中東和平問題に消極的なのは、和平担当の特使が決まっていないことでもうかがえる。だが、米国が和平問題に関与しないわけにはいかないのが現実だ。
 バイデン氏が副大統領として仕えたオバマ元大統領は、中東から手を引いて成長センターのアジアに軸足を移す戦略を描いた。ところがシリア問題と過激派組織「イスラム国」(IS)対策に追われて、結局、アジアシフトは中途半端に終わった。
 今回のようにパレスチナの紛争が再燃すれば、米国は否応(いやおう)なしに大きなエネルギーを割かざるを得なくなる。バイデン氏はオバマ氏の轍(てつ)を踏むことになりかねない。
 パレスチナ国家の樹立を認め、イスラエルとの二国家共存を目指すしか和平への道はない。イスラエルに一方的に肩入れしたトランプ前政権はこの和平構想を事実上放棄した。
 バイデン氏は一方に偏らない公平な立場に立って仲介役を果たしてほしい。
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