Steps Netanyahu should take

At the drop of a hat, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is most willing to lash out at Palestinians and other Arabs, Iranians and many Westerners, particularly those negotiating with Iran over its nuclear arsenal, in the hope that he will remain prime minister of Israel for a regular fourth term.

However, a surprise for many was the recent finding of a prominent pollster that many Americans, particularly Democrats, have second thoughts about Israel.

Right-wing pro-Israel pollster Frank Luntz reports Philip Weiss, co-editor of Mondoweiss.Net “sounds the alarm with a survey of elite US opinion saying that 3/4 of American Democratic elites regard Israel as having too much influence [in the US], and half of them say Israel is racist”.

Luntz found, as Weiss has been reporting on his website, that “criticism of Israel is gaining traction in the Democratic base and is sure to play a role in next year’s election campaigns.

The numbers show what everyone in the pro-Israel lobby fears: that Israel is becoming a partisan issue.

Republicans are standing by Israel.

Luntz calls the poll a “disaster”.

The poll reported that “an overwhelming 76 per cent of Democrats, as compared to 20 per cent of Republicans said Israel has “too much influence” on US foreign policy.

Asked whether Israel wants peace with its Palestinian neighbours, “an overwhelming 88 per cent of Republicans said it does, a far lower 48 per cent of Democrats agreed”.

To another question, whether the 802 members of the so-called opinion elite would be more likely to vote for a local politician who criticised Israeli occupation and mistreatment of Palestinians, “45 per cent of Democrats said yes, compared to just 6 per cent of Republicans”.

The US was the only country to oppose the recent UN decision holding Israel accountable for the Gaza war crimes last year war at the regular session of the UN Human Rights Council where 41 nations voted for the censure, including Germany, France, Japan, Brazil and China. 

Yet, there was at the same time an official American public rebuke issued against Israel. 

It emerged when the State Department revealed that it was reassessing the “special relationship” with Israel, and that it did not oppose the Palestinian-initiated BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement against Israeli goods originating from the occupied Palestinian territories where Israeli settlements “make it harder to negotiate a sustainable and equitable peace deal in good faith”.

The American reprimand did not stop Netanyahu’s badgering the so-called P5+1 states (US, Russia, UK, France, China and Germany) over the ongoing negotiations with Iran on its nuclear programme. The talks have a new deadline, namely July 10.

The Israeli prime minister audaciously accused the six world powers of dangerously caving to the Islamic republic’s every demand for a long-sought final pact that would see the lifting of sanctions in exchange of curbs on Tehran’s nuclear programme. 

The Times of Israel said Netanyahu, at the weekly Cabinet meeting last Sunday, declared that “it seems that the nuclear talks in Iran have yielded a collapse, not a breakthrough”, adding that the “major powers’ concessions are growing”.

Had Netanyahu been sincere in his outcry, he would have offered the Iranian government a deal whereby both countries would simultaneously eliminate their nuclear arsenal and declare the Middle East a nuclear-free zone, a step that would be welcome by all. 

This is a step that Netanyahu should take, sooner rather than later. If not, his Western supporters, especially the Obama administration, must feel obligated to pursue this course in the very near future, especially if an agreement with Tehran is reached.

Netanyahu should also state his stance on the border between Israel and the state of Palestine, a point he never discussed publicly unlike the Palestinians, and all Arab governments, who have time and again said it should be along the 1967 armistice line.

Obviously, there have to be land swaps to accommodate a few of the illegal Israeli settlements.

Time is running short for these two major Mideast problems.

The writer is a Washington-based columnist.