Spring Break
Author discusses Arab-Israeli peace talks
by Alana Abramson
Staff writer
News | 9/23/08
Posted online at 5:00 AM EST on 9/23/08
/ Last updated at 3:22 AM EST on 9/23/08
Itamar Rabinovich, co-author of Israel in the Middle East: Documents and Readings on Society, Politics, And Foreign Relations, Pre-1948 to the Present with University President Jehuda Reinharz, discussed the disparities between American presidents and Israeli prime ministers in negotiating the Arab-Israeli conflict last Wednesday.
Rabinovich was Israel's chief negotiator with Syria under former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and from 1993 to 1996 served as Ambassador to Israel in Washington. He is currently a visiting Professor of Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Rabinovich began with a succinct history of the Arab-Israeli peace process through American presidential administrations, beginning with the Nixon administration's efforts after the Yom Kippur War and ending in the present day.
The problem with American presidents mediating the peace process, Rabinovich said, is the "discontinuity between the presidential administrations." He described how each president, in an effort not to emulate his predecessor, tries to take a drastically different policy track than before, which often results in failure to implement their own policies.
He explained how the failure of Kissinger's "piece for peace" policy-when Israel gave up the land it acquired during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against Syria and Egypt in exchange for a peace treaty-fueled Jimmy Carter's desire to simply define borders of a Palestinian state. President George Bush, in an effort to remove himself from any similar policies to Former President Bill Clinton's, took a more passive role in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations than his predecessor. Had Carter and Bush continued the policies of their predecessors, Rabinovich explained, there could have been a legitimate peace process.
This problem of discontinuity between predecessors and current leaders is also present in the Israeli government. When the right wing of the Israeli government replaces the left wing and vice versa, "very different policies are carried out," Rabinovich said.
Rabinovich was Israel's chief negotiator with Syria under former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and from 1993 to 1996 served as Ambassador to Israel in Washington. He is currently a visiting Professor of Public Policy at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
Rabinovich began with a succinct history of the Arab-Israeli peace process through American presidential administrations, beginning with the Nixon administration's efforts after the Yom Kippur War and ending in the present day.
The problem with American presidents mediating the peace process, Rabinovich said, is the "discontinuity between the presidential administrations." He described how each president, in an effort not to emulate his predecessor, tries to take a drastically different policy track than before, which often results in failure to implement their own policies.
He explained how the failure of Kissinger's "piece for peace" policy-when Israel gave up the land it acquired during the Yom Kippur War of 1973 against Syria and Egypt in exchange for a peace treaty-fueled Jimmy Carter's desire to simply define borders of a Palestinian state. President George Bush, in an effort to remove himself from any similar policies to Former President Bill Clinton's, took a more passive role in Arab-Israeli peace negotiations than his predecessor. Had Carter and Bush continued the policies of their predecessors, Rabinovich explained, there could have been a legitimate peace process.
This problem of discontinuity between predecessors and current leaders is also present in the Israeli government. When the right wing of the Israeli government replaces the left wing and vice versa, "very different policies are carried out," Rabinovich said.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 4
Ian
posted 9/26/08 @ 10:53 PM EST
Rabinovich is a professor specializing on Syria. Since he left government, one can say honestly that the middle east has changed dramatically from what he knew. (Continued…)
Crazy Ian
posted 10/04/08 @ 2:50 PM EST
"To negotiate with backwards and hateful, genocidal and bloodthirsty enemies is a sure sign of insanity. There will and can be no peace until arabs and others accept the Jews right to exist in their own state and the legitimacy of their world view as equally valid to their own. (Continued…)
Ian
posted 10/07/08 @ 9:06 PM EST
One of the great pleasures of the internet is reading the college newspapers online. It provides a honest glimpse into the nature of each institution of learning. (Continued…)
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