Is the US-Israeli crisis a strategic one or just a diplomatic row? During US Vice-President Joe Biden's recent visit to Tel Aviv, the Israeli Interior Minister announced the building of new settlements in occupied Jerusalem. The White House spokesperson considered that a humiliation not only for Biden but also for the White House in particular and the US in general. Diplomatic efforts between the two strategic allies managed to contain the situation. Many Arab commentators were very happy about this row. I think their ideas came from an inherited trend of reaction policy. If this happened between two Arab countries, uncalculated reactions would ruin the relations between these two countries for a prolonged period, forgetting their common strategic interests. Despite the greater importance of the announcement made by Stanley McChrystal, the General Commander of the American Forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, Arab media did not comment much on it. The leading US general said that the Israeli acts threatened lives of American soldiers. In the Western media, commentators did not have much time for either incident. Thomas Friedman, the famous Jewish American writer criticised Biden and said that he should have taken his plane and left Israel after the humiliation. Is the Israeli settlement policy affecting American strategy? At the tactical level, it is clear that American politicians are used to paying lip service and asking Palestinians to exert self-control. However, at the strategic level, as McChrystal said, the Israeli policy should be taken into account. His words indicate that he is calling for US policy makers to consider their soldiers' lives more. One wonders why the Arab media did not use this announcement inside the US. What made the US withdraw from Vietnam was the pressure from American mothers to save their children's lives. Arabs have the money and the expertise and the media field is open. They may claim that the military balance is in favour of the Israelis, but they have the means to compete in the media. Even if they have not the expertise, they may hire professionals to do the job. Unfortunately, those who plan the strategies of the Arab media are more concerned with defending their regimes and attacking other regimes only. Many Arab conferences have been held since Arabs withdrew from the Arab Organisation for Industrialisation that was established to modernise the Arab weaponry industry. To my knowledge, no-one has ever discussed how to address the military imbalance between the Arabs and the Jewish state. Addressing this problem would serve the peace process and would have prevented many Israeli adventures. How to address the nuclear imbalance in the region is another item that should have been discussed. These conferences are still held as protocol meetings and to find ways for reconciliation between partners who have accepted peace in theory but like to fight through speeches and the TV in practice. Whether indirect or direct negotiations start, they will be fruitless while the Arabs are divided and do not want to use the many cards they hold. To solve the essential Middle East problem, neither roadmap nor lip service will help. We need an action plan in the form of deploying international forces to protect Palestinians and occupied Jerusalem. It happened in the Balkans and Palestinian blood is no less valuable than European blood. Arabs should exert more efforts to try war criminals; they have the card of the third intifada (uprising) that Arab Israelis should share and should take actions to put pressure on Israel and on the US. They have options that include recognising Palestine, withdrawing the Arab initiative and calling for the one-state solution. Never mind about American anger from which we have achieved nothing, even if both Palestinians and American soldiers are now in the same boat and both are exposed to increased risk as a result of Israeli policies. When the Bush administration was angered by Egypt, little was done because of the common strategic interests. Simply, there is a ceiling to American anger, simply because the region as a whole is much more important for the US strategy than Israel. Arabs should be active players in the regional affairs. However, as McChrystal said the American strategists should take this into account and our strategic centres should open dialogue with the American strategic centres. [email protected] Hany is an Egyptian writer, who regularly contributes to the Mail.
