Please read my blog post from the Tuesday Jewish American Heritage briefing and celebration at the White House. One of my big takeaways from that day is that the United States and Israel – even according to folks like Secretary Gates and Dennis Ross – have the strongest strategic relationship that they’ve ever had. The Administration couldn’t be more invested in Israel’s short and long term security. According to Israeli media, even Natanyahu is saying that the intrepretations are out of proportion But having that be known isn’t in everyone’s best interest and, with Obama’s speech, they have fostered misinterpretation and fear.
Now – let me go in the way back machine to illustrate why I believe it’s critical to both aggressively pursue a path to peace as well as ensure Israel’s long term security – and why Obama’s speech resonates with me.
A few years ago, I was in New York for a conference on Jewish community. One of the first presentations talked about population growth rates and points out that, at the current pace, Israel would no longer be a primarily Jewish state by 2020. That evening, even though we were (and are) totally happy with our # of children, I ambushed my husband with a comment like “well, maybe we should think about it…” as if that had anything to do with truly increasing/enriching Jewish community in the world.
Without skipping a beat, he proved why my decision to marry him was based on more than just the unbelievable quality of his brisket. “We’re doing more to enrich Jewish community by my teaching Kavana men’s cooking classes than by having any more children.” So right!
<and further in the way back machine>
When I was a little girl (about 5 – in 1974) – I was on a bus in Jerusalem with my family and heading to a ticket office to pick up tickets to a ballet. We were puzzled by a refrigerator that was on our bus and then delivered to where we had gotten off the bus, but didn’t spend time thinking about it. We couldn’t find the ticket office, but found our way into a travel agency to see if they could give us directions. As we were leaving that office, we were shocked with an explosion – and pulled back into the office by the staff member there. Sure enough – the refrigerator had been left in front of the ticket office where we were headed and had blown it up. Imagine how you’d feel if that was a regular occurrence? Security is paramount! No one – Israeli OR Palestinian, should have that kind of cloud hanging over them.
As people evaluate the speech from the President from the other day and then read the additional clarifications (here’s my blog post w/some of those and here’s an excellent NYTimes op-ed from Roger Cohen), it’s useful to keep in mind the theory that there are two possible long term outcomes in that region:
- Two sovereign countries – one Jewish and one Palestinian
- One country that’s no longer a Jewish homeland
Time is not on the side of those who believe in status quo – on many fronts. This is also evident in the actions taking place across the Middle East.
President Obama couldn’t be more clear that the goal is to have direct negotiations, that those negotiations are between Israel and the Palestinians – and that the outcome should be secure and thriving sovereign nations.
I encourage you to watch the speech he’ll give to AIPAC on Sunday May 22nd at 10am ET on my.barackobama.com/AIPAC and then in the afternoon up on www.wh.gov/video to hear a further articulation of his position on this.
