Jordan's King Abdullah: We're Going to Have a War

King Abdullah was asked at the end of his interview whether it would matter if the Arab initiative failed. "We're going to have a war," was his answer.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Inside Catholic) - When Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu meets with President Obama on Monday it may well represent the last chance for the 42-year-old military occupation to end and the emergence of a Palestinian state.

When I returned from Israel a month ago, I reported the pervasive attitude on the ground that only a few years of viability remained for the "roadmap" and the "two-state solution."

With the rise of Hamas, the overwhelming support of Israeli citizens for the Gaza bombardment, the decline in power and prestige of President Abbas and his Fatah party, the deteriorating infrastructure on the West Bank, and the election of Netanyahu, the likelihood of a successful peace process has grown very remote.

But there are four factors that may well restart the process.

1. Benedict XVI ended his pilgrimage to the Holy Land yesterday with a challenge to both Israel and Palestine to seek peace. The Vatican has real clout in the region, not only because of its instiutional presence on the ground, but also because of its ability to rouse the support of Catholicsaround the world, especially in the United States. Just before boarding his plane back to the Vatican, Holy Father was direct and to the point. The Associated Press story reported:

"Let it be universally recognized that the state of Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace and security within internationally agreed borders," Benedict said on the airport tarmac before boarding a plane to Rome.

"Let it be likewise acknowledged that the Palestinian people have a right to a sovereign independent homeland," he said.

2. The Obama administration has made no secret of its intention to apply greater force to Israel than the previous administration. Vice President Biden's recent remarks to AIPAC are quite remarkable. As reported by Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian:

Witness the speech that Joe Biden, the vice-president, gave to the pro-Israel lobby Aipac last week. "You're not going to like my saying this," he began, demanding that Israel work for a two-state solution and build no "more settlements, dismantle existing outposts, and allow the Palestinians freedom of Źmovement". Nor would Biden be content with mere promises. "This is a 'show me' deal - not based on faith - show me ..."

3. Netanyahu himself arrives in Washington remembering his 1996 clash with the Clinton administration that contributed to his defeat three years later by Ehud Barak. Israeli prime ministers who get crossways with the White House are walking out on thin ice back home. The New York Times recalled :

Help Keep Catholic Online Free

The last time Benjamin Netanyahu met an American president as Israel's new leader, in 1996, it did not go well. Mr. Netanyahu lectured President Bill Clinton about Arab-Israeli relations, aides recalled, driving Mr. Clinton into a profane outburst after his guest left.

4. Other Arab countries in the region are willing to take over the leadership in negotiations -- the Arab Peace Initiative -- an offer President Obama has accepted. In an interview with the Times (UK), King Abdullah of Jordan talked about his recent meeting with the Pope and the importance of the Arab initiative:

What we are talking about is not Israelis and Palestinians sitting at the table, but Israelis sitting with Palestinians, Israelis sitting with Syrians, Israelis sitting with Lebanese. And with the Arabs and the Muslim world lined up to open direct negotiations with Israelis at the same time. So it's the work that needs to be done over the next couple of months that has a regional answer to this -- that is not a two-state solution, it is a 57-state solution.

King Abdullah was asked at the end of his interview whether it would matter if the Arab initiative failed. "We're going to have a war," was his answer.

"We're going to have a war." I hope that remark will help steel the resolve of President Obama, Secretary Clinton, and special envoy George Mitchell to use the US's considerable leverage with Netanyahu.

The Palestinians I talked with did not believe that Obama would have anymore success than Bush with pressuring the Israeli government to stop confiscating land, building settlements, and carving up the West Bank into "cantons," making a contiguous Palestinian state a near-impossibility.

Their pessimism is one reason I think this may be the last chance for Palestinian statehood. King Abdullah's blunt prediction is another.

---

The mission of InsideCatholic.com is to be a voice for authentic Catholicism in the public square.We believe that truth is both attractive and compelling and that in the marketplace of ideas, it will invariably win out.