Miller on What to Do

Eyal Press talks to Aaron David Miller about diplomatic strategy moving forward:

If the answer is yes, Miller went on to say, a lot will have to change, starting with the pattern of the US pretending to be an “honest broker” while actually serving as “Israel’s lawyer.” “Effective brokers reach agreements that reflect a balance of interests,” he said. In practical terms, this would mean pushing for a truce in Gaza with provisions that benefit both sides: for Israel, an end to Hamas’ rocket fire and a mechanism for monitoring weapons smuggling; for the Gazans, an opening of the crossing points and lifting of the economic blockade (Miller thinks working this out will take months, even if a temporary ceasefire is reached soon). It would mean breaking the twenty-five year pattern he witnessed on settlements. “We’ve raised the settlement issue plenty [in the past], we’ve said it’s bad,” Miller said, “but ‘serious’ means why are you doing this? Give me a transparent accounting of what you’re doing, because I’m not sure even you understand how vast and expansive the settlement project has become.” And what if nothing changes? Instead of cutting off aid, which he views as neither warranted nor politically feasible, Miller favors “taking away our auspices” – that is, Obama telling the next Israeli Prime Minister “I am not going to say Israel is committed to peace when you are doing something on the ground which prejudges the disposition of the land you claim to be willing to give away.” He believes not even Benjamin Netanyahu would be able to explain to Israelis why, at this price, expanding settlements should continue.

That all sounds right to me. Of course it would hardly suffice to guarantee the emergence of peace—you’d need comparable gestures from the Arab states to show an international consensus that there’s a strong desire by responsible external actors to end the dynamic in which the debate is held hostage to the actions of extremists. But in terms of US policy measures, this—along with re-engagement on the Syria track—seems like the helpful thing we could do.