BICOM

Key Points

• Addressing The American Israel Public Affairs Committee’s (AIPAC) annual policy conference, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attempted to calm tensions in the US-Israel relationship – describing the US commitment to Israel’s security as ‘rock solid’. At the same time she called on Israel to face up to the risks necessary to make peace.
• Clinton reaffirmed US commitment to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons with sanctions ‘that will bite’.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who is attempting to find common ground on new gestures to the Palestinian Authority to restart peace talks – will address the conference this evening, and will meet President Obama tomorrow.

What did Clinton say and what is its significance?

In a speech to the AIPAC conference today, Secretary Clinton sought to calm tensions in US-Israel relations, whilst firmly reasserting US policy with regard to the peace process.

Secretary Clinton put into context the recent disagreement between Israel and the US over newly announced Israeli housing construction in East Jerusalem, by stressing, “For President (Barack) Obama and for me, and for this entire administration, our commitment to Israel’s security and Israel’s future is rock solid.” She reaffirmed that the relationship was based not only on strategic considerations but also that, “our countries and our peoples are bound together by our shared values of freedom, equality, democracy – the right to live free from fear”.

She explained that the US condemned the recent announcement of new housing in Jerusalem because it undermined the atmosphere of trust necessary to re-establish negotiations, which it believes are in Israel’s interests. She also reaffirmed US opposition to settlements as a whole.

At the same time, she condemned Palestinian incitement. She referred to the recent naming of a public square in the West Bank after a terrorist responsible for the massacre of 37 Israeli civilians in 1978, and inflammatory Palestinian rhetoric in relation to the recent rededication of the Hurva synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City.

Clinton reaffirmed that there would be no place for Hamas in the peace process until they recognise Israel, renounce violence, and accept previously signed agreements. She also called for the immediate release of Gilad Shalit, the Israeli soldier kidnapped by Hamas almost four years ago. Clinton dismissed the Goldstone Report as “deeply flawed”. She also repeated US calls to back the Arab Peace Initiative with concrete actions to help the peace process.

In a carefully crafted sentence designed to tread a path between Israeli and Palestinian positions, the Secretary of State outlined the US view on the terms for renewed negotiations. She stated that “we believe that through good-faith negotiations, the parties can mutually agree to an outcome which ends the conflict and reconciles the Palestinian goal of an independent and viable state based on the ‘67 lines, with agreed swaps, and Israel’s goal of a Jewish state with secure and recognised borders that reflect subsequent developments and meet Israel’s security requirements.”

Clinton’s speech put into context the recent statement of General Petraeus to the Senate that the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict makes it more difficult for the US to advance its agenda in the region, saying, “we know that the forces that threaten Israel also threaten the United States of America”. Whilst she rejected the idea that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would address all the problems of the region, she reaffirmed the belief of the administration that resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would help undermine the agenda of rejectionists in the region. She stressed that the status quo is unsustainable because it serves rejectionists, and because the demographic trends threaten to undermine Israel’s status as a Jewish democratic state.

However, Clinton sought to quash doubts about US commitment to the bilateral relationship. She reaffirmed that peace was a shared interest of the US and Israel, and stressed US commitment to maintaining Israel’s qualitative military edge, with increased levels of military aid.

Clinton made a conscious effort to re-establish her own Israel-sympathetic credentials, recalling at length her own personal connection with Israel from her time as First Lady and a New York Senator. She focused in particular on recollections of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, with whom President Clinton had a particularly strong relationship. She quoted Rabin – the Israeli Prime Minister who signed the Oslo Accords with Yasser Arafat and was later assassinated by a Jewish extremist – saying, “For Israel there is no path that is without pain. But the path of peace is preferable to the path of war.”

In what can be interpreted as a message to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, she recalled that past leaders, including Rabin, David Ben Gurion and Menachem Begin, had made difficult choices in name of peace. She explicitly called on “this generation of Israelis” to “do what may seem too dangerous, too hard, and too risky.”

She reaffirmed her praise for Prime Minister Netanyahu’s settlement moratorium and his call for a two state solution. She also referred to the talks she has been holding directly with Netanyahu in the past week over Israeli confidence building measures to re-establish the atmosphere for renewal of peace talks. She stated that Netanyahu had proposed confidence-building measures and that progress was being made to begin the proximity talks to which both sides have agreed.

Clinton also stressed US commitment to stopping Iran acquiring nuclear weapons by applying “sanctions that bite”, and harshly criticisised Iran for its antisemitism, its sponsorship of terror and its internal repression.

What will happen next?

Secretary of State Clinton will meet Prime Minister Netanyahu later today when they are likely to discuss the Israeli and mutual confidence measures proposed by Netanyahu. The Israeli Prime Minister will then address the AIPAC conference later today, before meeting with President Obama on Tuesday.

Further Reading

BICOM Analysis: Israel’s strategic value to the US – 21/03/2010