Former U.S. Officials Describe “Fraying of Shared
Values” Between U.S. and Israel
Allan C. Brownfeld, Editor
Special Interest Report
April 2017
In an article entitled “Can the U.S.-Israel Bond Be Saved?” (New York Times,
Feb. 14, 2017), two former U.S. officials involved in Middle East policy
report that Israel’s continuing occupation of the West Bank and retreat from
a two-state solution endanger the “shared values” of the two countries.
Steven Simon, who served as the National Security Council’s senior director
for the Middle East and North Africa, and Aaron David Miller, a former State
Department Middle East analyst and negotiator, write: “… what concerns us
most is the fraying of shared values that set it apart from other bilateral
bonds. Without them, interests alone won’t be enough to maintain its
character.”
They note that, “The two countries are an awkward, strategic fit. America is
Israel’s ultimate security guarantor, but Israel can’t come close to
reciprocating.” Without shared values, in their view, the alliance has a
very weak rationale.
They write: “The Israeli government and the powerful settler movement are
poised to exploit the (Trump) administr¬ation’s perceived pro-Netanyahu
stance by-expanding settlements and neighborhoods in the West Bank and
Jerusalem. The Palestinian national movement will no doubt respond with
terror and incitement to violence, undermining its own legitimate case.
Given the asymmetry of power, Israel’s response will probably be harsher and
increasingly seen as anti-democratic or worse.”
Asking what things are likely to look like in eight years, Simon and Miller
speculate: “American support for an increasingly right-wing Israeli policy
will mean that Israel will have built more settle¬ments; diplomacy aimed at
a two-state solution will be stillborn or abandoned …”
The authors conclude: “If these things come to pass, the erosion of shared
values will quicken. The process is already under way because of a number of
trends in the U.S., particularly among Jews; indiff¬erence to Israel among
many voters … the likely leftward turn of the Bernie Sanders generation, the
perceptions of an increasingly unpopular alliance between Israel and the
Trump administration. Taken altogether, they point to the very real
possibility of growing distance between Washington and Jerusalem.” •
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