Mr. Obama, Political Spin and the Middle East Peace Process

It is going to be almost impossible to get through the political spin about Mr. Obama’s speech on Israel today but that does not mean we shouldn’t try.  (Full Disclosure:  The Dismal Political Economist is and has always been Jewish and a strong supporter of Israel).

The President addressed two issues in his speech.  The first is about the borders of a Palestinian state.  He stated that the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 borders, which is code word for urging Israel to give up the lands it conquered and essentially annexed since then.  This normally would be the unacceptable concept that Conservatives and Republicans are saying that it is, except that the President also said that “land swaps” should be part of the process.  This makes the issue something entirely different, and presents a process in which Israel can get defensible borders, retain settlement and keep control of Jerusalem, something it does not have with the pre-1967 borders.

The second issue is the more important one.  The President basically said that Israel’s obligation to negotiate is conditional upon Hamas recognizing Israel’s Right to Exist.  This is important when combined with the first issue, for it gives Hamas a condition for U. S. support of negotiations, and a reward for Hamas meeting that condition.  Specifically what it says is that if Hamas will recognize Israel’s Right to Exist, the U. S. will support negotiation based on the pre-1967 borders. 

No one expects Israel to agree to pre-1967 borders, but if it agrees to negotiate on the basis as those borders as a starting point, then the Palestinians have gained what they want the most, an independent state that is at least partially determined by pre-1967 lines.

It is unlikely that the brilliance of Obama’s position will come through the political spin, as Republicans see Jewish voters as ones totally consumed by Israel and nothing else, and will pander to those voters in every way possible.  But political spin aside, the President has put the U. S. in a position that may some day solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  And that is a huge accomplishment.