Obama and Israel

Meretz USA warmly congratulates President-elect Barack Obama on his electoral victory, and wishes him every success in what will literally be an effort at tikkun olam - the need to repair the many ills that are having a deleterious effect on both the United States and the entire world.

When it comes to the question of the Middle East, one must not only hope, but also demand, that the Obama administration will learn from the tragic mistakes of his predecessor, who left Israeli-Arab diplomacy to atrophy for almost seven full years.

There is ample reason for optimism. Standing before an AIPAC audience in June, Mr. Obama clearly committed himself to reversing President Bush's head-in-the-sand approach and being a proactive President when it comes to the Middle East:

"As President I will work to help Israel achieve the goal of two states--a Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security and I won't wait--I won't wait until the waning days of my presidency. I will take an active role and make a personal commitment to do all I can to advance the cause of peace from the start of my administration."

Rather than limiting the American role to one of (at best) conflict management, it is finally possible to look forward to the US once again taking up the ennobling challenge of conflict resolution.

As always, it is vital that Israel have a friend in the White House. But one should never confuse friendship with a hands-off laissez faire approach that tacitly endorses those Israeli actions (and inactions) that place roadblocks on the path towards peace.

President-elect Obama's remarks to senior Jewish leaders in Cleveland in February suggest that he will create a new and more effective paradigm for Israeli-American friendship. What follows are sections from his talk in Cleveland, which are presented at length because of their insight, balance and candor, and because of their clear suggestion that the Likud's approach of diplomatic stalemate and stagnation is simply not a legitimate policy option.

• "I will ... carry with me an unshakable commitment to the security of Israel and the friendship between the United States and Israel. The US-Israel relationship is rooted in shared interests, shared values, shared history and in deep friendship among our people. It is supported by a strong bipartisan consensus that I am proud to be a part of and I will work tirelessly as president to uphold and enhance the friendship between the two countries.

• "I also expect to work on behalf of peace with the full knowledge that Israel still has bitter enemies who are intent on its destruction. We see their intentions every time a suicide bomber strikes, we saw their intentions with the Katyusha rockets that Hezbollah rained down on Israel from Lebanon in 2006 and we see it today in the Kasams that Hamas fires into Israel every single day ... The defense cooperation between the United States [and] Israel has been a model of success and I believe it can be deepened and strengthened.

• "I think there is a strain within the pro-Israel community that says unless you adopt an unwavering pro-Likud approach to Israel that you're anti-Israel, and that can't be the measure of our friendship with Israel. If we cannot have an honest dialogue about how do we achieve these goals, then we're not going to make progress. And frankly ... the notion that unless we are never ever going to ask any difficult questions about how we move peace forward or secure Israel that is non-military or non-belligerent or doesn't talk about just crushing the opposition, that that somehow is being soft or anti-Israel, I think we're going to have problems moving forward. And that, I think, is something we have to have an honest dialogue about.

• "[M]y starting orientation is: A - Israel's security is sacrosanct, is non-negotiable. That's point number one. Point number two is that the status quo ... is unsustainable over time. So we're going to have to make a shift from the current deadlock that we're in. Number three that Israel has to remain a Jewish state and what I believe that means is that any negotiated peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians is going to have to involve the Palestinians relinquishing the right of return as it has been understood in the past. ... It also means the Israelis will have to figure out how do we work with a legitimate Palestinian government to create a Palestinian state that is sustainable. It's going to have to be contiguous ... That's in Israel's interest by the way. If you have a balkanized unsustainable state, it will break down and we will be back in the same boat.

• "I want practical, hardheaded, unromantic advice about how we're going to achieve that.

• "[O]ne of the things that struck me when I went to Israel was how much more open the debate was around these issues in Israel than they are sometimes here in the United States. It's very ironic. ... There was a very honest, thoughtful debate taking place inside Israel. All of you, I'm sure, have experienced this when you travel there. Understandably, because of the pressure that Israel is under, I think the U.S. pro-Israel community is sometimes a little more protective or concerned about opening up that conversation. But all I'm saying though is that actually ultimately should be our goal, to have that same clear-eyed view about how we approach these issues."

In his important remarks, President-elect Obama presents a vision, which - although nuanced and cautious - seems very much in the Meretz USA tradition: Committed to Israel's secure existence, committed to the peace process, committed to an honest and intelligent conversation about how best to achieve these goals.

As Israel approaches its own elections in three months' time, perhaps the Israeli public, too, will choose hope over fear, and will be wise enough to elect leaders who can work productively and harmoniously with President Obama and his administration, and help repair the damage accrued in recent years.