Saving Israel from Itself

IN SEPTEMBER, President Obama signed a new 10-year agreement with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu committing a total of $38 billion in military assistance.

President Obama noted that this—the most significant support package ever offered to Israel—demonstrated his unparalleled commitment to that state’s security. Shortly thereafter, Obama, speaking before the U.N., cautioned Israel that it “cannot permanently occupy and settle Palestinian land.” The two messages combined made the point that the U.S. can help to protect Israel from external foes, but if Israel wants to be protected from internal challenges, it must change its behavior vis-a-vis the Palestinians.

Just a few weeks later, Netanyahu announced that he was building new settlement units in colonies deep in the West Bank and maintaining ongoing plans to expand settlements in other sensitive areas of the occupied lands—in Arab areas of Jerusalem, in the heart of Hebron, and around Bethlehem.

These are clear provocations and together point to Israel’s intention to maintain its control over the West Bank, making impossible the establishment of a viable Palestinian state.

The Obama administration reacted harshly to the Israeli move. A White House spokesperson noted that every U.S. administration since 1967 has opposed settlements in the occupied lands, the expansion of which will only further frustrate a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The White House also accused Netanyahu of violating his commitment to the U.S. that he would refrain from any further settlement expansion. The State Department “strongly condemned” the Israeli plan, referring to the expansion as yet “another step toward cementing a one-state reality of perpetual occupation.”

Israel’s plans should not have been a surprise, since Netanyahu has been playing the administration for almost eight years. The Israeli prime minister has boasted before Israeli audiences that he knows how to control the U.S. Three times he used invitations to address the U.S. Congress to stymie the goals of the president—succeeding twice. The one time he lost (on the Iran deal), he was rewarded with the $38 billion arms agreement.

Netanyahu acts with impunity precisely because there has been no accountability for his behavior. The White House and State Department may cry foul, issuing strong statements. But Netanyahu knows that it will end there—with no price to be paid for bad behavior.

As long as the U.S. allows this pattern to continue, the spoiled child will take advantage of the situation—taunting, acting out, and getting his way.

This administration, like those before it, has argued that its hands are tied—that Congress will undercut or overrule it. But in the closing days of his term in office, President Obama has an opportunity to set things right. He can restate the 1970s State Department finding (which has never been overturned) that all settlement activity is illegal. He can allow the U.N. Security Council to pass a resolution declaring the illegality of settlements and imposing international sanctions against Israel for its violations of international law. And he can refuse to block an Arab effort to refer the issue to the International Criminal Court.

Israel’s lobby will demand that Congress repudiate the administration’s effort. But the matter will be out of their hands and in the court of the international community. A strong signal will be sent to Israel that it cannot continue its oppression of Palestinians and its creeping annexation of the Occupied Territories. And it will empower and embolden Israeli and Palestinian peace forces.

Finally, such decisiveness will help to salvage President Obama’s legacy in the Middle East. He could be remembered as the president who provided unprecedented security assistance for Israel while also putting his foot down and making that state’s rogue leadership face the international consequences of their self-destructive behavior.