Halpern: Return of the native

I'm thinking

By Micah D. Halpern

Issue of May 28, 2010/ 15 Sivan 5770

It is widely assumed that Rahm Emanuel is the push behind the hard line that the Obama Administration has adopted towards Israel. That is the belief not only in the Jewish world, but in major segments of the foreign policy wonk world as well. Rahm plans, plots and masterminds the itinerary for peace pushed upon Israel.

Just last week Rahm was planning another itinerary for Israel - he was there with his family to celebrate a family milestone, the bar mitzvah of his son. Rahm came to celebrate, visit with family, tour the country. Rahm, son of an Israeli father, came to Israel because he has roots in Israel, because he loves Israel and respects what Israel stands for.

How do we make sense of this apparent conflict, the contradiction between Rahm Emanuel, one of the most influential government officials in this administration (if not the single most influential) and Rahm Emanuel the Jewish father and family man? Some say he has simply turned his back on Israel and no longer feels or even understands the importance and the significance of Israel in today's Middle East. And yet, his actions negate that sentiment. He is portrayed as an enemy who was once a friend, as someone who can no longer be trusted because he does not get the critical issues, because he has thrown his lot in with the enemies. Some say that Rahm Emanuel cares not a smidgen about the safety or the security of Israel. And yet, when it came to an affair of the heart, his heart returned to Israel.

Clearly, Rahm Emanuel cares about Israel. He has not forsaken Israel, he has simply misjudged the situation. He made his evaluation and his evaluation is wrong. He has decided upon the best way to progress towards peace in the Middle East and his decision is faulty. The big problem is not that he has made a mistake, the big problem is that specifically because Rahm Emanuel is so acutely aware of Israel's situation that it will be almost impossible to influence him and convince him to shift his view. And it is just as impossible to convince the president that his trusted and valued adviser is off the mark in the arena that is so obviously his.

Rahm Emanuel, and hence the Obama Administration, subscribe to the point of view that Israel holds all the Middle East cards and that in order to break the loggerjam Israel must take on the bulk of the responsibility. While this view is blatantly unfair and puts an excessive amount of pressure on Israel, Rahm and his cohorts Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama justify their stance because they know that Israel can deliver.

According to their world view, the only way to get the momentum moving in the Middle East peace process is to gently, using kid gloves, urge Palestinian leadership and the Palestinian population to join the process - and then to bully the Israelis. As has become obvious to everyone outside the

Administration, peace is not incentive enough for the Palestinians to join the process. The Rahm perspective is skewed. Imagine what would happen if a peace deal were achieved under these conditions. How would peace violations be addressed? Would violations be meted out equally to

Palestinians and Israelis or would the greater responsibility still rest with the Israelis? Would the same bias remain in place? Emanuel wants a Middle East peace deal. But he has neither thought through the ramifications nor properly estimated the costs. Rahm Emanuel truly is a friend of Israel, even a native son, and that's what makes him so dangerous.