John Kerry's Middle East Mystery Tour

[babylonsister]

John Kerry's Middle East Mystery Tour

Gershom Gorenberg

April 11, 2013

Surprising everyone, the secretary of State really is pushing for Israeli-Palestinian peace.



AP Photo/Paul J. Richards, Pool


The mysterious Mr. Kerry has come to the Middle East and gone. The secretary of state promises to return soon, but does not tell us exactly when. In Jerusalem and Ramallah, he says, he listened to leaders' suggestions for restarting peace talks. He does not say what those suggestions were. Curiously polite things happen while he in in the neighborhood. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, for instance, postponed his previously announced trip to Gaza, lest he cause Israel grief. Kerry does not explain how he inspires such thoughtfulness.

John Kerry is quite open, though, about his motives: He wants to renew Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, right away, soon, to conduct them "in a clear and precise, predetermined manner" toward the agreement that has eluded every previous peace effort.

The only mystery here is the one created by broken expectations, which say that Washington should treat Israelis and Palestinians with benign neglect, that the Israel-Palestine problem is where America's good intentions go to die. Why are Kerry and his new boss, Barack Obama, trying again? How can they coax the negotiators back into a room together and cajole them to follow a strict agenda?

The "why" part is straightforward: More than ever, America has an urgent interest in Israeli-Palestinian peace. The fallen autocracies in Egypt and Tunisia, the demands for democratization in countries such as Jordan, and the political rise of Islamic movements have weakened American influence in the region. The decades-old tension between America's alliance with Israel and its ties with Arab countries has become sharper.

Brokering an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal will not bring calm to the Middle East. It will project power, drastically improve America's image, and make it much easier for U.S. allies in the region to work together. Washington has little ability to influence the outcome in Syria, for instance. But it can repair cooperation between Israel, Turkey, and Jordan as they cope with the collapsed state on their borders.

more...

http://prospect.org/article/john-kerrys-middle-east-mystery-tour

[YvonneCa]

1. No surprise...

...here. Thanks for posting...

[wisteria]

2. Thnk you so much for posting this, Mysterious no less. n/t

[karynnj]

3. Interesting article

It is fascinating how the writer puts together the pieces of President Obama's and Kerry's actions. The most interesting idea is that they are trying to get the Israeli and (likely) the Palestinian people to push their governments to peace. It is interesting that they seem to have had at least some success stopping at least some things that would have made things worse - ie Turkey and Israel not speaking and the Turkish leader going to Gaza.

In LBN, there is an article titled Israel rejects Kerry's proposals. That is the title so it is the correct subject line - even though the article does not live up to the title. In fact, it more likely as this op's article says in linking to it, the reaction of the far right of Netanyahu's coalition trying to derail it because they are against giving any land.

If Kerry can do anything that makes life better for the Palestinians - even if it falls short of peace, it will be an incredible accomplishment and needed.