US Foreign Policy with Israel and the Palestinian Reconciliation

US foreign policy will be interesting to watch now, with the Palestinian Reconciliation Agreement in Egypt.  How will they react in the short to medium term?  Their undying support for Israel has become strained because of President Netanyahu’s refusal to stop settlement building.  They have lost their key ally in the region, Egypt’s Mubarak who they bulked up his armed forces with American weaponry.  The new regime in Cairo is now taking a more Pro Arab, Pro Palestinian side, indeed the agreement to reconcile was formed on Egyptian soil.  American administrations always seek peace from the Arabs but pursued them to agree to a peace with Israel on the Israeli terms.  Now governments in the region are rejecting the Americans way and are encouraging the Palestinians to form their own peace.  The European Union is key to this.  They should reject totally and unanimously the call from Israel to halt the 288 million euro in development aid to Palestine.  Significant moves toward peace must be listened to and encouraged.

The EU must now act as the buffer from the Americans one sided interventions and aspirational rhetoric and take the hard decisions to form peace in the region.  I also call on the delegates and the next meeting of the United Nations to listen to the Palestine cause in their attempt to get recognised as a state.  They need not make any bold moves to do this but should at least listen and form an international committee to oversee the developments in the possible creation of a Palestinian State.  This can only come through with the renunciation of violence from all parties involved.  A commitment to do this must be followed through before any type of recognition is even considered by the United Nations.  But first listen and acknowledge developments made.

I find it irresponsible of Israel to totally dismiss the recent agreement to reconcile by Hamas and Fatah.  It is important to support any moves to get everyone around the table to work out a framework for the future in a democratic way.  Israel should be aware of its role in the evolution of Hamas, it initially welcomed the creation of Hamas as a means of fractioning the dominant Fatah during the early 90’s.  But the legacy of Hamas is not forgettable, they are a terrorist organisation that have committed atrocities and are not renouncing violence.  But like Northern Ireland and the IRA in order to get the gun out of politics they must be brought to the table whether publicly or privately and talked to.  They continue retain popular support which cannot be ignored.

In short, the EU must take the bull by the horns and work with the Americans, Israelis and Palestinians in a four way arrangement to work out a solution tolerable to all, UN involvement not essential.