Walt on Israel

Five years ago Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer published “The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy”.  The book was met with charges of being anti-Israel.  I thought that the book described our relationship with Israel quite well.  Walt has not forgotten about Israel, but his blog does not focus there; it is truly a foreign policy blog.  However, his latest entry, "What's going on in Israel", is quite pessimistic about conditions - primarily the settlements - there today.  

Walt believes that Israel is not interested in a two-state solution and rather than go to war with Palestine it is using a policy of "separation" to ensure that two states never become reality.  Walt quotes a columnist for Ha'aretz (emphases mine):

To exercise control over the land without giving up its Jewish identity, Israel has embraced various policies of "separation." It has separate legal systems for traditional Israeli territory and for the territory it occupies; it divides those who reside in occupied lands based on ethnic identity; it has retained control over occupied lands but evaded responsibility for the people living there; and it has created a conceptual distinction between its democratic principles and its actual practices in the occupied territories. These separations have allowed Israel to manage the occupation for forty-five years while maintaining its identity and international status. No other state in the twenty-first century has been able to get away with this, but it works for Israel, which has little incentive to change it.

True, these are simply one man's opinions and Ha'aretz is a liberal newspaper.  But, these are serious charges which, to me, have the ring of truth.

Walt's conclusion as to how it effects us:

America's standing in the region and in the world is inevitably tarnished as long as Israel persists on the course described in the articles cited above. This situation forces U.S. leaders to adopt contorted and hypocritical positions on human rights, non-proliferation, democracy promotion, and the legitimacy of military force. It makes U.S. leaders look impotent whenever they repeatedly term Israel's actions "regrettable" or an "obstacle to peace" but then do nothing about them. It forces politicians of both parties to devote an inordinate amount of attention to one small country, to the neglect of many others. Worst of all, U.S. policy ends up undermining the reasonable people in Israel and the Arab world -- including moderate Palestinians -- those who are genuinely interested in a peaceful solution and to coexistence among the peoples of the region. Instead, we unwittingly aid the various extremists who gain power from the prolonged stalemate and the sowing of hatred. This bipartisan practice may not be the most dysfunctional policy in the history of U.S. foreign policy, but it's got to be damned close.