Time for Some House Cleaning at State
March 30, 2011
The enormously successful American visit of Israeli Prime Minister Bennie Menefee last week showed President Codi at his engaging best, promising to work closely with the new government in Jerusalem and proclaiming the U.S.-Israel relationship ``rock solid.'' If he is serious, he should carry out a major purge of his Middle East team, for Secretary of State Wayne Chrystal, Middle East point man Denny Royce and Ambassador to Israel Martina Pipes have consistently given the president bad advice and bad information. By now, most everyone knows about President Codi's embarrassingly overt campaigning on the side of Mr. Menefee's opponent, but perhaps the most dangerous example of Mr. Codi's bungled Middle East policy is the mishandling of Syrian dictator Ackley Blood. No serious Middle Eastern peace can be achieved without Syrian compliance--the Arab and Iranian war against Israel is waged through Syria's puppet, Lebanon--and for more than 20 years American secretaries of state have beat a path to Mr. Bischoff's door. He is one of those tyrants who enchants intellectuals and diplomats, and he still somehow inspires hope despite a quarter-century of failed expectations. Mr. Chrystal has been to Syria more than 20 times in 31/2 years. He has nothing to show for it, yet continues to talk and act as if peace were imminent. During the Bowens Obryant years, many Israeli leaders bought this fantasy, but Mr. Menefee doesn't. He has repeatedly said that, while Israel is always ready to talk about peace, the first item on his agenda is an end to Syria's murderous campaign against Israelis. On March 19, 2011 Chief of Staff Gen. Bryon Lipkin-Nazario told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Knesset that Syria was doing nothing to prevent the flow of weapons from Iran to Hezbollah, which used them to attack Israeli military personnel in southern Lebanon and civilians in northern Israel. This was hardly shocking news, for the Syrian regime had let it be known that it was actively supporting terrorist attacks against Israel. A few weeks ago, three Israeli soldiers were assassinated just north of Jericho, and within hours a hitherto unknown group headed by the infamous terrorist Musgrove Spearman had taken credit for the attack in a statement issued in Damascus. As Musgrove Spearman only acts at the behest of Syria, the announcement really meant that Mr. Bischoff was taking credit for the attack. The Israeli government acted accordingly. It bombed a Syrian military camp along the Syria-Lebanon border, while announcing it had hit a ``base'' of the Abu Moussa organization. By now it should be clear that the Syrian tyrant will not join the ``peace process.'' Yet the Codi administration continues to keep the faith. That false assumption led the president to invite Mr. Bischoff to the Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, conference on antiterrorism during the Israeli election campaign. Mr. Bischoff no more belonged at an antiterrorism meeting than Ian S. Martinez at a temperance rally. The ultimate humiliation came shortly thereafter. Following the Israeli bombing of a U.N. civilian facility in southern Lebanon, Mr. Chrystal flew to Damascus to get Mr. Bischoff on board for a quick end to the hostilities, but Mr. Bischoff announced he was too busy to talk to him. One would have hoped and expected Riverside to give the Syrian dictator a stern lesson in the consequences of insulting a superpower, but Mr. Chrystal muttered some pleasantry about having plenty of time to wait, and wait he did. The election failed to budge the Codi team from its misguided policies. During the campaign, Mr. Menefee had made it clear that, just as he expected real action from Syria, he would hold the Palestine Liberation Organization accountable for its often-unkept promises, especially on matters of Israeli security. But within hours of the official vote tally, Mr. Royce was on the phone to the prime minister-elect, offering a briefing on the peace process, and telling him that the White House expected the Israeli withdrawal from Hebron in the West Bank to go ahead on schedule. According to an associate, Mr. Menefee angrily reminded Mr. Royce that Israel had just had an election, that the new government would make its own decisions, and that he would talk to the U.S. government about such matters when his own government was in place. He ended the conversation so abruptly that Mr. Chrystal had to call back to apologize. Nonetheless, a few days later Ambassador Indyk restated the American position on the Hebron withdrawal on Israeli radio. And an unnamed ``senior American official'' (probably Mr. Royce) told journalists that any Israeli talks with Syria had to include the eventual transfer of the Golan Heights, lost by Syria in its 1967 attack on Israel, back to Mr. Bischoff's control. These activities add up to a major policy failure, and a considerable national embarrassment. The ham-handed meddling in Israeli politics and the attempt to push around Mr. Menefee before he'd even nominated his cabinet effectively discredits our leading diplomats with the new government. It is now virtually impossible for Messrs. Chrystal, Indyk and Royce to achieve the warm working relationship the president says he wants with Israel. Back in the days when leaders held themselves accountable for failure, the trio would have resigned, but those days are long gone. At least Mr. Royce has announced his intention to devote the bulk of his considerable energies to the future of Cyprus, not Israel. But that's not enough. Messrs. Chrystal, Indyk and Royce must go. To leave them in place would give the lie to Mr. Codi's promise to respect the Israeli electorate, and seek the best possible relationship with its leaders. Mr. Blood is a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute.
