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I don’t often get political here, but because I feel so strongly about how J Street is finally carrying the message to Washington that many Jews support a 2-state solution for Israel and Palestine and want peace for all, I’m posting an e-mail from J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami about a recent meeting with President Obama.
J Street Supporter –
A big thank you to all the J Street members who responded so positively to my note about meeting with President Obama yesterday.
So many of you were gratified and excited to hear that J Street was at the table in the White House – but it left many of you wanting more color and flavor on the meeting. So here goes!
First, let me assure you that the President couldn’t have been clearer: making progress towards peace in the Middle East is a fundamental American interest – and essential to Israel’s security and stability.
He framed the issue as a strategic challenge in which the U.S. must pursue numerous goals simultaneously – ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, ensuring Israel’s security, dealing with Iran, and addressing the legacy of anti-American sentiment in the region.
He recognized that the United States isn’t going to see eye-to-eye with either the Israelis or the other parties in the region on every issue. When some Jewish leaders argued (as they did in the meeting) that progress toward peace is only made when there is no daylight between Israel and the United States, the President responded correctly that for eight years – when there was no daylight between us and Israel – there was no progress toward peace. The hard decisions weren’t made on either side – and the prospects for peace only diminished.
In talking to The New York Times yesterday, I described the President’s approach as “pushing while hugging” – his way of helping all parties reflect on whether their actions are really advancing their interests or not. Further Israeli expansion of settlements on the West Bank, and ongoing incitement against Israel in the Palestinian Authority, are good examples of actions that he sees as setting the process back.
To the extent that he’s asking for hard steps from the Israelis on issues like settlements, he’s going to be equally clear in what he’s asking of the Palestinians and Arabs. To those who say he’s being tougher on one side or the other, he maintains that he is taking a balanced approach and believes that pressure on both sides will be needed to move toward a resolution of the conflict.
President Obama is very aware that he’s talking about reversing decades of mistrust and working within a narrow window of opportunity to align interests in the region and reach a comprehensive resolution.
As he said, “This isn’t easy – if it were, we’d be talking about health care.”
I left the room feeling we are at a truly historic moment of opportunity. There may never be another American President who so clearly gets the issues strategically and has the political capital to try to pull off an agreement.
To succeed, I really believe J Street is going to be critical in demonstrating political support for the President and to those in Congress who support his efforts.
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