Middle East Reaction to the Iraq Study Group
Dec. 7, 2006 — -- For Palestinians, it stated the obvious.
For many Israelis, the Baker-Hamilton report is a worrisome new view of the Middle East.
Reacting to the Iraq Study Group report today, Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected any connection between the Iraq conflict and Israel's conflict with the Palestinians.
He also rejected any talks with Syria, but restated his commitment to peace with Palestinians.
The report, released Wednesday, focuses on possible solutions to easing the ongoing violence in Iraq.
Many Palestinians and Israelis are talking about Recommendation 13 that suggests the United States should be directly involved in solving the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to help the United States achieve its goals in the Middle East.
Jeff Halper, nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year for his efforts in advocating for Palestinians, says the Arab-Israeli conflict is the one major destabilizing issue in the entire Muslim world.
"It is a microcosm. It has all the grievances that the Muslims have. You have a European state, Israel, disposing an Arab people from its country and now having an occupation."
In 2002, the Bush administration vowed to help create a two-state solution within three years, telling the Palestinian people they would get a nation of their own alongside Israel.
However, the United States shifted its resources and focus to the war on terror and specifically the war in Iraq.
Calev Ben-David, the director of the nonprofit Israel Project, an Israeli advocacy group, is concerned that Iraq is being too closely linked to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.
"The Arab-Israeli conflict is very complicated, and it should not be linked to Iraq, which is another situation," Ben-David said.
Ben-David doubts talking to Syria, as the Baker-Hamilton report suggests, will pacify Syrian President Bashar Assad into easing the conflict in Iraq, let alone helping to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict.
In a speech today, Olmert said despite the recommendations in the Baker-Hamilton report, there were no plans for the Israeli government to talk to the Syrians.
Olmert also said that as far as he was concerned, the White House was of the same opinion.
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