Middle East

The United States alliance with Israel has a crucial role in the Arab-Israeli conflict due to the fact the US needs Israel for economic and strategic stability in the region. And, according to Smith (2008), “Israel needs support from the USA…this seemed likely.” Thus, the US has not been an honest mediator between Israelis and Palestinians, however, the Obama administration has recently made efforts to “broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas” (Kahler, 2013). Unfortunately, tensions remain high and prospects of peace talks seem more remote now than they did even a year ago. 

A prime example of why peace talks, let alone a ceasefire is unlikely: “The murder of three Israeli teenagers was horrifying but the Israeli government’s response is equally so. Two suspects — allegedly members of Hamas — who disappeared from their homes, had been effectively pronounced guilty before an investigation was concluded, let alone a trial. Israel’s revenge was swift” (Heard, 2014). This was posted on Arab News, not mainstream US media, and as Professor Solomen in the documentary ‘Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land’ said, “[US] views are so twisted because lack of reporting, lack of images, lack of analysis…a void of voices from Palestinians.” This ‘void’ of honesty leaves the regular American to wonder why these supposed peace talks do not work out. The answer to that question is based on whether or not Israel and Hamas “see [dialogue] in their interest…and change their entrenched positions” (Smith, 2008) against one another. 

It is still unclear what role Obama and Secretary of State Kerry will play in future negotiations, but this role “depends not only on American power and leverage, but also on the ability of the US” (Heard, 2014) to overcome barriers to honest mediation with both parties. Successful US mediation would have to increase demands on Israel, however, the US continues to “furnish Israel with lavish financial, military, and diplomatic aid” (Kahler, 2013). These actions are rather contradictory to mutual negotiations since the Palestinians receive aid or “sympathy from the US government or people” (Svirsky, 2004, ‘Peace, Propaganda, and the Promised Land’). The US would have to pressure Israel to give up the occupied territories or “what many Israeli voters believe to be rightfully theirs” (Smith, 2008), and ask Israel to make compromises counter to its security strategy. 

That is extremely unlikely to happen because of the history of violence, “poor domestic politics in Israel and the Palestinian territories” (Held, 2011), and nearly a century of conflict between the opposing parties. No matter what the US does to mediate, they still seem to have extreme mistrust and deep hatred for one another. This may be a pessimistic view, but based on history and current affairs, the US acting as a mediator is just a way to“demonstrate to a skeptical world it still has an important role to play in the region for security and stability” (Kahler, 2013), and ultimately only benefits them.