‘Pro-Israel stance of US to halt Obama’s Middle East peace process’

    By not openly condemning the Jewish state the US chose Israel, claiming that the Israeli assault was a reflection of its legitimate security concerns. American experts believe the US demarche will more likely halt US President Barack Obama’s success in pushing the Middle East peace processes forward.

    Turkey demanded on Tuesday that the US condemn Israel’s attack on the aid flotilla in which Israeli soldiers killed nine peace activists and left many more wounded. Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu told reporters ahead of a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that Turkey was disappointed with the Obama administration’s response to the raid.

    US State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said in a daily press briefing on Wednesday that the US does not support a UN Human Rights Council resolution that condemns Israel for its attack on the flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

The UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday condemned Israel over its “outrageous attack” and asked for the establishment of an international fact-finding mission into possible violations of international law.

“Israel needs to pay the price for its actions and the US must be on board, otherwise we will pay the price instead of Israel,” Joshua Walker, a Transatlantic Academy fellow, said. “I think America, given our domestic politics and predisposition to trust our closest ally in the region [Israel], is inclined to show restraint, but it is clear that Israel has crossed a line and the US needs to take a strong stand,” Walker argued.

In addition to this, US Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday said he also backed Israel’s purported right to board the ships bound for Gaza.

Speaking in a television interview with CNN’s Larry King on Thursday, Obama said the deadly Gaza flotilla incident was “tragic” but expressed hope it could somehow provide an opening to boost Middle East peace efforts. That said, the US role in this reinvigorated peace process, observers say, has been put into question.

The Obama administration has assumed a relatively cautious line while Israel faces international condemnation over the bloody raid. Analysts both in the US and in the region believe the incident is more likely to undermine fledgling peace moves.

Noting that Israel’s actions have already damaged Obama’s standing in the Middle East, Walker said the lack of response and the slow nature of the US response makes it seem like it is taking Israel’s side, which is near impossible to defend.

US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell said on Thursday that the lethal Israeli raid should not undermine negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians that resumed a few weeks ago.

In a meeting with Mitchell in Tel Aviv, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said they truly expected and wanted to see the recent event not disturb the main course of their common policy to make sure that the peace process continues and does not stop.

“Obama’s reluctance to condemn the Israeli actions will definitely undermine his efforts to reach out to the Muslim world. It has also upset US relations with Turkey, forcing them not to seek a vote on Iranian sanctions at the UN Security Council this week. They want unanimous support and suspect that Turkey and Lebanon will not cooperate,” Muqtedar Khan, an associate professor at the University of Delaware, said in an interview with Sunday’s Zaman.

Khan linked the late and incomplete statements of the US concerning the Israeli raid to domestic politics. Khan said the pressure that the Obama administration had been putting on Israel to stop building settlements, to start the peace process and even to accept the two-state solution had undermined US-Israel relations and alienated Israeli supporters from Obama. “The Obama administration’s support for the UN statement on a nuclear-free Middle East also increased the distance between the two countries,” he added. So when the flotilla crisis occurred, Khan says, the administration chose to appear supportive in public for domestic reasons but took Israel to task in private and is pressuring it to (1) conduct a credible inquiry and (2) change its Gaza policy.

He also provided an insightful account into the Obama administration’s pro-Israeli position. He said the Democrats are already weakened and fear they may lose the House in November elections. “They need the Israeli lobby,” Khan said.

“Without question,” Ian Lesser, a senior transatlantic fellow at the German Marshall Fund, said, “the incident will pose great dilemmas for US policy, and particularly for an administration that has worked hard to develop a new approach to Israel and the peace process.” But noting that these are also old dilemmas, and similar to crises in opinion faced in the past, Lesser said that the high expectations of President Obama around the region in a way make the situation -- and the risk of sharp reactions -- of even greater ramifications. “[It’s] a negative situation for all sides,” he concluded.