Testing II

President Obama has lived up to his campaign promises to move quickly, from day one, to engage in the Middle East. His actions and rhetoric have signaled a clear break with the approach and policies of the Bush administration. He has used words like “respect for the views of Middle Easterners” and “listening to their point of view even if we disagree”. His first media interview as President was on the Dubai based Arab television network Al Arabiya. (An extended excerpt is here.)
His appointment of George Mitchell as his special envoy has been well received in the region. The appointment, however, has not been uniformly acclaimed by the Israel Lobby. Abe Foxman, President of the pro Israel Anti Defamation League said in a news conference “Senator Mitchell is fair. He’s been meticulously even-handed. So I am concerned.”
This is clearly not going to be any easy road to follow. It took sixty years of bad policy to get to this point and it not going to change in a short period of time. As has been pointed out, President Obama is an American politician and not a messiah. Following the road towards peace and stability in the region will be two steps forward and one step back. It will require political courage, perseverance, patience and engagement with all parties.
Last year, following the Annapolis Conference, I wrote that George Bush would be tested right away to see if he was serious about each side living up to their obligations under the so called “Road Map”. Shortly after the conference Israel announced a large number of new tenders to build settlement units in the occupied territories. (This article is here.) George Bush failed the test, demonstrating that he was not serious, and in the 12 months following the conference three times as many settlement units were built as in the previous 12 months.
During the Presidential campaign Vice President Biden stated that he believed that Obama would be tested right away in the foreign policy arena. I think that he expected that the test would come from al Qaeda, Russia, China or some other adversary. Turns out that the test is coming from Israel.
Following the tenuous cease fire in Gaza, Obama called for the border crossings to be opened for humanitarian and reconstruction aid. Israel has said no, taking the position that reconstruction material, such as cement and pipes, could be used by Hamas to rearm. All players in the region will be watching closely to see if Obama passes the test. Will he be able to exert the pressure necessary to insure that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza is relieved? His job will be made even more difficult by the likelihood of a Likud victory in the February 10th Israeli elections.