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US-Israeli policy and the new White House
24/10/2008 By Robert Matthews
On 20 January 2009, Barack Obama or John McCain will inherit the burden of dealing with the world’s oldest and most dangerous conflict—that between Israel and Palestine - and one for which a solution seems as far off as ever.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
After the unconditional US support for Israel during the administration of George W. Bush, the US has lost its credibility as an honest intermediary in the dispute. John McCain, although promising to focus more on the issue than was the case with Bush, gives no indication he would change the assumptions of US policy toward Israel.
Obama is well within the "pro-Israel" mainstream of today’s Democratic party. Yet Obama is the only contender for the White House whose past comments reveal a broader understanding of the issues confronting both sides in the conflict, sympathy for the plight of Palestinians and a need to address their agenda with fairness and impartiality.
His advisers are also more progressive on the issue than the neoconservative counsel that surrounds McCain. On Iran, Obama’s Senate record is less hostile and he has departed radically from both McCain and Bush in proposing that the United States should talk to Iran without preconditions. It is not surprising then that while popular opinion around the world wants to see Obama as the next US president, the vast majority of Israelis express more trust in McCain and favour his election.
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Keywords
Civil society Conflict Elections Gaza Strip and West Bank Iran Israel Middle East United StatesRelated publications
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Bio author: Robert Matthews
Robert Matthews, Associate Fellow of FRIDE, holds a Ph.D in Latin American history from New York University, where he was a teacher at the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies. For twenty years was a collaborator with the Peace Research Center - Centro de Investigación para la Paz (CIP) - in Madrid, specializing in United States foreign policy.
