Nathan Thrall is an American journalist who lives in Jerusalem. The book is well written and refreshingly honest about the mess that the U.S. has got itself into mediating this dispute. The book consists of articles that he wrote for various American publications. It provides a history of U.S. diplomatic efforts since Jimmy Carter. Thrall’s solution: “getting tough with the Israelis and Palestinians” does not seem realistic. Israel is still popular in the U.S. and since 9/11, Muslims in the Middle East have been viewed with suspicion. Like most U.S. politicians, Trump is pro-Israel. Any U.S. president who tried to hold Israel's feet to the fire would face criticism from its noisy American supporters, as Obama found out.
Condi Rice said that "Israel's restrictions on Palestinian life and movement were similar to the oppressive conditions that angered her as a child in racially segregated Alabama." However, she did not find a solution to the Palestinian problem as Secretary of State. The Obama/Kerry approach was to warn Israel that it was becoming an apartheid state. They expected it to do the right thing and change its ways. They advised that reaching a deal with the Palestinians was necessary to save it from "pariah" status. That did not work. So far Israel has proven quite capable of living with the label of “pariah” in Europe, as long as it retains U.S. support. Some American Jews who have lived in Israel, like Max Blumenthal, believe that Israel has already crossed the Rubicon and they view it as an apartheid state. Ordinary Americans either don’t know or don’t seem to care. The mainstream media avoids criticizing Israel and usually shows it in a positive light. It is described as a democracy even though the Arabs living in territories occupied since 1967 will never be allowed to vote in Israeli elections. The U.S. has historically opposed colonialism and promotes democracy and self-determination everywhere else. Protecting Israel has a cost for the U.S. internationally and makes it more difficult to take the moral high ground on issues. Fortunately for Israel, the Palestinians are not viewed as sympathetic victims in the U.S. and have few friends who will fight for them.
The U.S. has always demanded that it leads the peace process and then takes it nowhere, mainly because we are conflicted. Thrall believes we also "deprive other third parties-whether European or Arab-a meaningful part in the process." Both our political parties are pro-Israel so we are not seen by the Palestinians as honest brokers. Thrall points out that the U.S. vision of an independent Palestine is not acceptable to the Palestinians anyway. We want a Palestine that remains subservient to Israel. When we say two states, we don't mean two fully independent states. The Israeli historian Avi Shaim, who is a professor at Oxford University, has recommended, that the U.S. hand over mediation to someone impartial. However, America's leaders seem to have viewed resolving the dispute as something akin to the search for the Holy Grail. Bill Clinton and John Kerry seemed to believe that solving this problem would help their legacy and probably win them a Nobel prize. However, John Kerry's manic shuttle diplomacy achieved very little.
Thrall claims that the reason Israel has not annexed the West Bank and Gaza is because the strong preference of most of the country’s citizens is to have a Jewish-majority homeland. To many outsiders, the solution would appear to be an ethnic partition of the territory into two nation-states separated by the pre-1967 borders. Partition was proposed by the British in 1937 and the UN in 1947.Thrall and Avi Shaim believe that Netanyahu is happy with the status quo. The number of illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem now stands at more than 800,000. Each year their numbers grow and they become harder to shift. Netanyahu occasionally makes the right noises to placate the U.S. but according to Shaim he has no interest in a partition or any type of two-state solution. A peace agreement would require Israel to make concessions.
The theme of the book is that Israel will only compromise if it is forced to. Without pressure, neither Israel nor Palestine will change their negotiating positions. The U.S. funds about 20% of the Israeli defense budget and protects it from UN sanctions and other outside pressure. Israel is a small country, but with the U.S. in its corner, it can punch far above its weight. Thrall argues that the U.S. should be able to force Israel to change tack. For many reasons, including numerous domestic pro-Israel lobbies, our leaders are no longer willing to exert pressure on Israel.
Traditionally, Israelis have portrayed Arabs as a people for whom force is "the only language they understand." Since the 1990s, billions have been spent propping up the Palestinian government. The Palestinian Authority’s leaders recognize that foreign aid, and their own jobs, would be at risk if there was a comprehensive peace deal. Their attitude to Israel has profoundly changed, “transformed from a protector against an occupying army into an agglomeration of self-interested businessmen securing exclusive contracts from it.” The Palestinian leadership seems to have sold out.
Recent U.S. presidents no longer seem to have much of an appetite for confronting Israel’s leaders. Thrall claims that two Presidents have “succeeded in compelling Israel to undertake a full territorial withdrawal.” He uses the example of Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter. Eisenhower told Israel to withdraw from Sinai in 1956, but Ike was respected and trusted by the public. Few presidents since have had his authority. It was also before the Six Day War in 1967. That war changed American perceptions of Israel. Carter is also given a lot of credit by Thrall for his peace efforts and willingness to challenge Israel. However, Thrall is very critical of Obama whom he claims the Palestinians had really believed in. According to Thrall Obama talked a good game but achieved nothing. He also showered Israel with money and weapons and Netanyahu spent eight years defying him on the Palestinian question. Ultimately, Obama was not prepared to confront Netanyahu in a forceful way.
There does not seem to be a viable alternative to the status quo. Netanyahu successfully played Obama and is now working with Trump. who seems to love Israel. In recent years Israel has also been getting along with its other Arab neighbors. It has become a regional power and cordially works with Egypt and Jordan, and quietly with Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the Emirates. The status quo is unlikely to change for at least another generation. The book is a useful reminder of how we got where we are.
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