29 March - 4 April 2001
Issue No.527
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 29 March - 4 April 2001 Issue No.527 |
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Sharon woos a willing suitor
During his four-day visit to the US, Ariel Sharon achieved something his three Likud predecessors never managed: a normal, friendly relationship with a US administration, writes Michael Jansen
The warm reception Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received during his visit to the United States was his main achievement. According to observers, US acceptance "launders" the formerly unacceptable Sharon and gives him and his right-wing Likud Party international respectability. Washington was wary of the Likud's "old terrorists" Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir and the glib upstart Binyamin Netanyahu. Warm relations were reserved for Labour leaders.
Sharon enjoying a chummy meal with US President George Bush during his first visit to Washington after taking office (photo: AP)
Ronald Reagan's right-wing Republican administration, which President George W Bush seeks to emulate, never came to terms with Begin. Sharon, Begin's defence minister, was considered persona non grata after master- minding the 1982 invasion of Lebanon.
Democrat Jimmy Carter, who brokered the Camp David accords with Egypt, did not get on well with the difficult and demanding Begin. George Bush senior imposed unprecedented, though symbolic, sanctions on Shamir for stepping up construction of settlements in the occupied territories.
The first Bush administration sighed with relief when Labour's Yitzhak Rabin took power in 1992: Washington was no longer obliged to keep Israel at arm's length. Netanyahu was heartily disliked by the Clinton administration, the most pro-Israel to date, while Labour's Ehud Barak had close relationships with former President Bill Clinton and the Zionists on his Middle East policy team -- Martin Indyk, Dennis Ross and Aaron Miller.
How, then, did Sharon -- the most openly brutal of the four Likud prime ministers -- manage what his predecessors failed to achieve? The answer is simple: Sharon's welcome in Washington had nothing to do with Sharon. Sharon was simply lucky enough to come to power during the term of the first right-wing Republican administration which not only has nothing against Likud and its extreme right-wing partners, but also could make good use on the US domestic scene of a good working relationship with Sharon.
Indeed, Sharon and President George W Bush might even become soul mates. Evidence of the Bush administration's readiness to connect with Sharon began to pile up soon after Bush's inauguration. The new president immediately gave priority to "containing" Iraq and shunned close involvement in Arab-Israeli peacemaking which, US officials said, should be the sole responsibility of the parties concerned. This is precisely what Sharon wanted; he had no desire to have Washington pressing for a final deal or putting forward "bridging proposals."
The Bush administration also repudiated the gains made during Clinton's intensive push for a settlement last year, helping put the peace process in reverse. Bush's withdrawal from the peace process means Sharon is no longer considered an "obstacle to peace" by Washington. Bush Jr quickly confirmed his determination to make Iraq his number one priority in the Middle East by bombing Baghdad. Secretary of State Colin Powell subsequently referred to Jerusalem as "Israel's capital" and Bush himself vowed to begin the process of transferring the US embassy from Tel Aviv to the occupied city, in spite of angry Arab, Christian and Muslim protests.
Bush's pro-Israel bias is also seen in his adoption of Sharon's "no negotiations under fire" policy and his termination of the US Central Intelligence Agency's role in Palestinian-Israeli security cooperation. Bush has yet to invite Palestine President Yasser Arafat to the White House and Washington has compelled the Security Council to water down to pointlessness a resolution calling for the creation of a protection force for Palestinians. Forgotten is Bush's campaign pledge that he would be "even handed" in dealings with Israelis and Arabs.
Sharon was "normalised" for several reasons. Since Bush's mandate is contested and the Congress divided, he needs the support of the Christian right and Zionists of all persuasions to secure adoption of his legislative programme. In any case, Bush is a born-again Christian with muddled but strongly felt pro-Israel feelings. And he sees Israel as a strategic partner through which he can project US power and influence, with the aim of containing Iraq and Iran and countering Russia's attempts to resume a regional role. In the administration's internal struggle over foreign policy, Bush naturally favours the deeply committed right-wingers over moderate Powell, whose influence is already waning.
During his encounter with Bush, Sharon made sure to appear ready to slip neatly into Bush's regional game plan. Sharon proclaimed Israel Washington's partner in the battle against "terrorism" and pledged not to "surprise" Washington as he did in 1982 when he marched the Israeli army to Beirut. The Israeli premier said he would cease inflicting "politically incorrect" sufferings on Palestinians -- on the condition, of course, that they stop resisting Israeli occupation. And Sharon's step-by-step approach to peacemaking, which involves a series of long-term interim arrangements reached directly by the two parties, absolves the US of any responsibility for brokering future agreements.
Sharon's meetings with congressmen and the Zionist lobby were designed to counter any attempts the Bush administration might make to forge normal relations with Arafat or become intimately involved in peacemaking. He secured the support of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee for his refusal to negotiate with the Palestinians until anti-Israeli violence ends. Although Bush intends to cut the $3 billion annual budget allocation to Israel by $60 million, Sharon felt confident enough to make a bid for an increase in US aid. He even appealed to the committee to cut $1.3 billion in military assistance to Egypt, reasoning that Cairo negatively influenced the peace process by withdrawing its ambassador from Tel Aviv and calling upon other Arab countries to freeze relations with Israel. (Although Sharon has denied that he asked Bush to take such action, he has not commented on reports that he made this request to Congress.)
Sharon gave a star performance to the annual conference of the American-Israeli Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a hawkish, right-wing organisation uneasy with Israel's doves. He reiterated Israel's claim to "united Jerusalem" as its "eternal capital" and accused Arafat of trying to "destabilise the entire Middle East, including moderate Arab regimes, in order to achieve his goals." Sharon's statements were the first shot in an AIPAC-driven offensive to demonise the Palestinian leader and deprive the Palestinian cause of legitimacy.
He followed up by speaking to a meeting sponsored by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organisations, proclaiming that Jerusalem belongs "to all the Jewish people" and calling upon Jews to use their influence to ensure Israel's control over the city. He asked for a million Jews to emigrate to Israel, with the aim of fulfilling the Likud's cherished dream of "Greater Israel."
Having won the free hand traditionally granted by American administrations to Labour, Sharon returned to Israel to get down to business. He has stepped up pressure on the besieged Palestinian enclaves and is expected to approve construction of a new settlement in the West Bank and expansion of the controversial "Har Homa" colony on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
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