Secretary Of State John Kerry Is Visiting Nine Countries But Not Israel. What’s Up?
On February 24, 2013, the new secretary of state, John Kerry, leaves on his first trip abroad. He will visit nine countries, four in Western Europe and five in what is loosely defined as the Muslim, Arab world. But he will not visit Israel, even after intense speculation in Washington that Israel was a certain stop on his itinerary. What’s up?
The question is relevant, because it immediately stirs memories of what happened in 2009. In June of that year, just a few months into his historic presidency, Barack Obama visited Cairo for good and important reasons but then refused to take advantage of geography and make the short hop to Jerusalem. He might at the time have been angry about Israel’s settlements policy. The upshot was that Obama got off on the wrong foot in his dealings with Israel, and nothing much happened in U.S.-Israel relations for the next four years, even as the Mideast neighborhood itself became engulfed in uncertain democracy-building, violent upheavals and what looked like a determined Iranian move toward nuclear weapons.
Therefore, it was assumed that once Obama’s re-election was behind him and dreams of bringing peace to the Holy Land danced before his eyes, he would move quickly to improve relations with Israel, a necessary first step to masterminding a sensible American policy for a region in turmoil. And he did move. The White House announced that Obama would be going to Israel, Egypt and Jordan on March 20. When rumors circulated shortly after John Kerry became secretary of state that he would soon be visiting the Middle East, it was quickly assumed—incorrectly, as it turned out—that Israel would be one of his stops for at least two reasons: first, to show the Israelis that they are not going to be forgotten a second time by the Obama administration; and second, to lay the groundwork for Obama’s visit to Israel.
But Kerry will not stop in Israel. A number of reasons have been advanced, but none that make terribly much sense. First, Israel does not really have a government, since, after recent elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has not yet finished the complicated task of forming a new government. Second, since the president is going to be in Israel anyway in late March, what is the point of Kerry being there in early March? It’s argued that it is redundant, or it is putting too much pressure on Israel. Third, it’s Kerry’s way of telling the world that he will not allow the Palestinian-Israeli conundrum to cloud his vision of America’s place in the world. This is all sophisticated nonsense.
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http://www.brookings.edu/blogs/up-front/posts/2013/02/22-secretary-john-kerry-trip-kalb
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