August 13, 2004/Av 26 5763, Vol. 55, No. 47
When strength mattersEditorialMany American Jews regard President George W. Bush as a profound friend of Israel, but a new book seriously questions the relationship between the Bush administration and the Jewish state.For more than a dozen years - from the first Bush administration through the Clinton presidency - Ambassador Dennis Ross played a leading role in shaping U.S. involvement in the Middle East peace process and in dealing directly with the Israelis and the Palestinians. Ross has just published his account of the repeated efforts to broker a deal that would bring peace between Jews and Arabs. The New York Times Book Review calls his book, "The Missing Peace: The Inside Story of the Fight for Middle East Peace," a "work of historical significance." Ross indicts the current Bush administration for failing to move the peace process forward, writing: "It tended to believe that nothing could be accomplished and therefore the United States should make no effort." Ross contends that the Bush administration looked at previous administrations and thought that if they couldn't succeed in brokering peace, then his couldn't either. The ambassador also paints a chilling portrait of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat. Ross says Arafat was "unable to make the leap from revolutionary to statesman." He writes that Arafat could not agree to a conclusive deal that would end the conflict, and that "partial deals were possible (only) because they did not require him to adopt any irrevocable conclusions." As the 2004 presidential campaign picks up steam, we are mindful that this year's race for the White House could be the most important in our lifetime. Of course, America's war on terror is a cornerstone of the campaign. Some observers suggest that U.S. support for Israel is a major component of the terrorists' hatred for America and Americans. But in a recent television interview (CNN's "Late Edition," Aug. 8), Ross told Wolf Blitzer that although resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an important step to winning the war on terror, it is not the single key. He explained that if the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians were to end tomorrow the anger and alienation felt throughout so much of the Islamic world would continue. He added that as long as we must deal with noninclusion, corruption and unresponsive regimes, we will have to reckon with a "pool of anger, and that's what the Islamists exploit." The question begs: How do we begin to change that perception? It will take a national leader who refuses to allow previous failures to shape his action or inaction to have the resolve to keep on trying. |
