Terrorism & Security
posted December 7, 2006 at 11:40 a.m.

Iraq Study Group report sees mixed response in Israel

PM Olmert says link of Iraq to Israeli-Palestinian issue is 'incorrect,' while leftists laud report's push for peace.

By Tom Regan | csmonitor.com

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has rejected the findings of the Iraq Study Group, in particular its linking of the events in Iraq to the failure to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

The Jerusalem Post reports that Mr. Olmert called the findings "incorrect," and said the report is only an internal American issue. In particular, Olmert rejected the group's recommendations regarding Israeli-Syrian relations.



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Olmert, speaking to reporters at the annual Editors Press Conference in Tel Aviv, said that the Baker-Hamilton report, which posits an American exit strategy from Iraq through regional dialogue, and which also calls on Israel to return the Golan Heights to Syria in exchange for a comprehensive peace, was only "one opinion out of many" currently making the rounds in America, and was "not the American position." ...

"We respect James Baker greatly, but we don't have to agree with everything he says," Olmert said Thursday. ...

The report said that in exchange for a dramatic change in Syrian behavior in Lebanon and toward terrorist organizations, "in the context of a full and secure peace agreement, the Israelis should return the Golan Heights, with a US security guarantee for Israel that could include an international force on the border, including US troops if requested by both parties."

Haaretz writes that Olmert is not concerned about the report because President Bush has given no indication that he is changing policy towards Israel, despite the recommendations of the Baker-Hamilton report.

Sources at the Prime Minister's Office said Wednesday night that Olmert is not unduly concerned with the report because in his recent meeting with Bush at the White House, he was promised that the US would not divert from the principles of its policy in dealing with terrorist groups and in countering the Iranian nuclear program.

But other Israeli politicians and officials expressed concern about the report. YNetNews reports that former Israeli Ambassador to the US Dore Gold said Israel is going to have to "prepare for a different reality."

"The Baker-Hamilton report is indicative of a growing trend in both American parties," said Gold. "This approach sides with a US withdrawal from Iraq. Within two years American presence in Iraq will be minimal.

"Another thing, and this is more important, the very willingness of the reports' author to start a dialogue both Iran and with Syria, is an alarming development. It's alarming because the United States isn't requiring any preliminary conditions for this dialogue, and there is no mention of the Iranian nuclear program which continues to advance.

Mr. Gold said the report is proof that Israel has been unsuccessful in "conveying a clear message to the US elite" about the Iranian threat. "How can the United States see Iran as a stabilizing force in Iraq when Iran is funding and supplying arms to terror factions, both in Iraq and in Lebanon."

Haaretz reports that the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) attacked the report's recommendation that the US become more involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as part of an effort to stabilizing Iraq, saying that the two issues are unconnected.

The report "prejudges the outcome of negotiations between Israel, the Palestinians, Syria and Lebanon" and "waters down the international community's clear preconditions for any negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel," the ADL said in its statement adding, "The report's specific recommendations, such as the return of the Golan Heights to Syria, should be left to final-status negotiations and not dictated to them by outside parties."

But the San Francisco Chronicle reports that many on the Israeli left welcomed the report.

"We hope that this Baker committee will lead to some pressure on the Israeli government on the issue of going back to negotiation – not because we are against Israel, but because we think the only one that really can push Israel into negotiation outside of Israel is the American administration," said Yariv Oppenheim, secretary general of the Israeli group Peace Now, during a visit to The Chronicle on Wednesday. "We know James Baker very well ... so there is a lot of reason for us in the peace camp to be encouraged that he is back in business."

Yossi Beilin, leader of Israel's left-wing Meretz Party, welcomed the report. He said the Israeli government had used the U.S. boycott of Syria as an excuse for delaying negotiations and called on Israel to open talks with Syria over the status of the Golan Heights "without preconditions."

Israeli columnist Daniel Levy, writing for the TPMCafe blog, praised the Iraq Study Group's recommendations on the broader Middle East as well, calling them "good policy."

The Baker-Hamilton Commission get it – engagement is not endorsement and one's adversaries can sometimes be more effectively cajoled into changing course across a table rather than via the barrel of a gun. Re-stabilizing Iraq will require involving all its neighbors. Involving all its neighbors mean engaging with the surrounding Sunni Arab states, including Syria, and with Iran. Getting them actively on board involves going back to pro-active American conflict resolution efforts on the Israeli-Arab front, which also will have the effect of reestablishing US credibility and neutralizing the Israeli-Palestinian issue as a rallying cry and mobilizing tool for extremists.

And if anyone cries abandonment of our ally Israel, quote them back this line from the ISG report: "the US does its ally Israel no favors in avoiding direct involvement to solve the Israeli-Arab conflict – there is no military solution to this conflict – the vast majority of the Israeli body politic is tired of being a nation perpetually at war."

Mr. Levy went on to say that the recommendations should become the "litmus test" for those who genuinely want an Israel "living in peace and security with its neighbors."

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