WikiLeaks Mirrors the Priorities of the United States

It was not surprising that rumors in the Arab world are spreading concerning a conspiracy between Mossad and U.S. intelligence to publish confidential U.S embassy cables through WikiLeaks. Those who believe that an Israeli plot was behind the shark attack on tourists in Sharm El-Sheikh will no doubt also believe that there is a conspiracy behind WikiLeaks. The vaunted Israeli prime minister, Netanyahu, stated that the content of the documents verified what Israel has warned about Iran’s danger and that what Arab leaders say in private must be said in public. Netanyahu brags as if he is the only political figure in the world who seemed so happy to hear these documents, promoted by many articles published in U.S. newspapers and magazines, claiming that the real danger lies in Iran and not in Israeli occupation, and that the Arab world be concerned more with the Iranian situation than finding a solution to the Palestinian case. Besides, Obama did not exert enough effort to press Israel because of the “marginalization” of the Palestinian case for the Arab world.

The image is, to some extent, right. There is a focus on the obsession with Iran and the absence of Palestinian concern in WikiLeaks. But the matter is not federal conspiracy because these documents put the U.S administration and diplomacy in a very embarrassing situation. Such documents could have eradicated the future of many diplomats, who improperly described local political leaders or intervened in delicate internal affairs. But documents reflected, in turn, the priorities of the U.S administration and focused on the requests of its diplomats, which are the extrapolation of Arab and international views on Iran and that it didn’t exert enough effort to resolve the Palestinian–Israeli conflict, as well as the repercussions of the occupation on the security of the region.

If we wanted to use these documents as an indication of the orientation of the U.S administration, whether in the era of Bush or Obama, we will find that there is an entire focus on Iran and domestic situations in the countries of the Middle East, as well as a deliberate absence of the Palestinian matter. Consequently, there is disappointment that U.S embassies did not exert enough effort to deliver messages and strategic information on the development of the Palestinian situation to the Department of State. All these indicate that the U.S administration is not concerned with this case, in contrast to media and political allegations.

The WikiLeaks documents were extremely significant, not only in the revelation of confidential and delicate information about many continents of the world but also in clearly reflecting the real priorities of the U.S administration. Such documents contribute toward highlighting the most important U.S strategic orientation in the next coming years, and other countries and their public institutions can benefit from this. This responsibility is required of all Arab countries to fully benefit from what the documents reveal about the American way of thinking and its decision-making in narrow circles.