NY Times: US Missteps Harming Middle East Allies

It's time for a course correction.

According to Tuesday's New York Times, moderate Arab states have seen their influence diminish as the Obama administration has mishandled the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Michael Slackman writes: "Even before Mahmoud Abbas announced that he would not seek re-election as the Palestinian president, throwing the Palestinian Authority into chaos, America's closest Arab allies, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, had begun to despair over Washington's Middle East missteps, government officials and political experts said. Many Arab leaders were unhappy with remarks by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in Israel. With Israel having rebuffed American calls to freeze settlement-building, and with the prospects for substantive peace talks fading, Saudi Arabia and Egypt are increasingly viewed in the region as diminished actors whose influence is on the wane, political experts say."

Jordan is also unhappy, worried that with negotiations stalled, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could spill across its border with the West Bank and Israel. 

The sad fact is that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is at a more dangerous place today than it was when President George W. Bush left office.  There is a simple reason for that.  Bush did essentially nothing to advance peace but he didn't raise expectations either.

President Obama did raise expectations, particularly after his Cairo speech in which he pledged to redouble efforts to achieve an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.  But then his call for an Israeli settlements freeze was rebuffed by Prime Minister Netanyahu, the administration pressured Palestinan President Abbas to withdraw its support for the Goldstone report on Gaza war crimes, and the Secretary of State was quoted as praising Netanyahu for "unprecedented" concessions.

This trifecta has been disastrous for the region and for US influence.

Fortunately, President Obama can turn the situation around by adopting a consistent policy toward the goal of re-starting negotiations.  If Netanyahu will not go along with a settlement freeze, the United States should say "Fine.  Let's go to final status negotiations now, draw borders for Israel and the new State of Palestine, and deal with settlements in that context."

Contrary to what columnist Tom Friedman recommended on Sunday, the United States has to increase the pressure, not walk away.