Israel’s choice: Settlements or U.S. interests?

By Heidi Schramm

Last month, Gen. David Petraeus testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee: “The (Palestinian-Israeli) conflict foments anti-American sentiment, due to a perception of U.S. favoritism for Israel. Arab anger over the Palestinian question limits the strength and depth of U.S. partnerships with governments and peoples in the (area of responsibility of U.S. Central Command) and weakens the legitimacy of moderate regimes in the Arab world. Meanwhile, al-Qaida and other militant groups exploit that anger to mobilize support.”

His assessment of America's security situation in the Middle East is all the more poignant given the rising tension between Israel and the United States over what is increasingly seen as an issue with negative implications for American interests: Israel's settlement policy.

On March 9, Israel announced that it would expand an East Jerusalem settlement by 1,600 housing units. The announcement was a public humiliation to the United States and undermined Vice President Joe Biden's goodwill trip to assure the Israeli public that relations between Israel and the United States are as strong as ever.

Three days later, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “to make clear the United States considered the announcement a deeply negative signal about Israel's approach to the bilateral relationship and counter to the spirit of the vice president's trip.”

Clinton's rebuke was accurate. Israel's announcement proved that it values its settlements more than it does American interests and peace with Palestinians.

The United States has several vital interests in the Middle East: protect its troops engaged in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, build trust with Arabs and Muslims in the region, and advance human rights in Israel and Palestine and peace between Arab countries and Israel. Each of these goals is undermined by Israel's insistence on building and expanding its settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Israel's settlement policy puts American troops at risk. Around the world, the United States is seen as enabling Israel to pursue unjust policies by providing it with financial and diplomatic support. When the policies are unpopular, the United States is seen as at least partially responsible, and becomes the target of the anger the policies spark.

Israel's settlement policy harms America's image throughout the Middle East. Public opinion polls in predominantly Arab and Muslim countries indicate that U.S. policy toward Palestine does more than any other single issue to mobilize Arab public opinion against the United States. Because the United States provides Israel with substantial financial and diplomatic support, many across the Middle East view the United States as partially responsible for harmful Israeli actions, which undermines the U.S. image and security. This is precisely the point Gen. Petraeus made to Congress.

Finally, Israeli settlements violate Palestinian human rights and international law and undermine the prospects for peace between Israel and the other Arab countries. The Obama Administration has been right to focus on ending settlements from the very beginning. Settlements displace Palestinians, subject them to unchecked violence at the hands of extremist settlers and preclude the possibility of the establishment of a viable Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Israel must choose between the value of its settlements and the value of its relationship with the United States. Allies look after each other's interests, account for each other's concerns, and help advance each other's objectives. They do not humiliate each other's highest-ranking officials before the entire world.

If Israel chooses to build settlements on Palestinian land to the detriment of American interests, then the United States should end its generous financial support of that country and start looking for allies elsewhere.

Heidi Schramm, a graduate of Wartburg College, is the research associate for the American Association for Palestinian Equal Rights (www.americansforpalestine.org).