Not up to the task

By Yossi Beilin, Bitterlemons

3.3.2011
Via Bitterlemons (Click for original)

EXCERPT:

On top of everything, the veto of a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning the Israeli settlements constituted the height of American folly. At the moment when the US is competing for the core of Arab public opinion--when it is clear the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the issues that unites the Arab street against Washington--the world's only superpower takes on the entire world and votes against its own policy position, yet without in any way serving Israel's real interest.

America did not physically block sanctions against Israel. It simply informed the world that it isn't really serious about the position it has ostensibly held for years regarding this very problematic issue. The administration can of course complain to PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) for ignoring the president's pleas; it can berate the Netanyahu government for refusing to maintain a partial freeze even for three more months; but first it has to confront its own mistakes. And in this particular situation, casting a veto in the Security Council was a dramatic mistake.

The Obama administration does not know what to do in the Middle East. It is headed by a man of great ability and little experience who recruited aides who have proven incapable of carrying the heavy policy load. The Middle East today confronts many dilemmas. It is a crossroads of huge dangers and exciting opportunities. Obama must take himself in hand, replace his policy team and prepare strategically for a situation in which Middle East publics will have far more to say than ever before.