Will New Leadership at Home and Abroad Bring Israel Unacceptable Security Risks?
Not long after U.S. President-elect Obama assumes office, the Israeli nation will choose a new prime minister. The stark choice is very likely to be between Tzipi Livni and former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Provisional American plans for the road to peace may actually threaten Israel's future security.
by John Ross Schroeder
Columnist Jonathan Freedland wrote in The Jewish Chronicle: "With Obama in, Israelis now need to elect another dove—Livni—for the peace process to have a chance" (Nov. 7, 2008).
About a week later a Sunday Times report revealed that "Barack Obama is to pursue an ambitious peace plan in the Middle East involving the recognition of Israel by the Arab world in exchange for its withdrawal to pre-1967 borders, according to sources close to the American president-elect. Obama intends to throw his support behind a 2002 Saudi peace initiative endorsed by the Arab League and backed by Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister and the leader of the ruling Kadima Party" (Nov. 16, 2008, emphasis added throughout).
A dangerous future
If this report proves to be accurate and is implemented, Israel's security position may very well become even more dangerous. "Land for peace" has a bad history in Israel. Several strategic military advantages were gained by the outcome of the 1967 war. Israel would most probably lose them all if this peace plan were to become a reality—rendering the nation much more vulnerable to cross-border attacks in the future.
The successful Six-Day War in 1967 brought Israel the Golan Heights, the West Bank, the Jordan Valley , the Gaza strip, the Sinai Peninsula plus a reunified Jerusalem. Israel immediately annexed East Jerusalem with other conquered areas provisionally held hoping for future land-for-peace deals with the Arabs. Some of this territory has since been given back, but the parts most essential for national security are still very much in Israeli possession.
