President Bush is back from his ambitious Middle East trip, which included stops in Israel, the Palestinian territories and several Arab nations. If we may be so bold, we offer these grades: A for effort; C+ for outcome; and W for What took him so long?
This was Bush’s first visit to Israel as president, something hard to square considering his ardent support of the Jewish state from the start of his administration.
Despite that support, the region has become more unstable since 2000. No one can know, but earlier hands-on engagement from the president might have mitigated some of that. In any case, the reality is that Bush decided to focus his energies on this issue during his final year in office.
Rather than dwell on past missed opportunities, it’s more constructive to consider what this trip accomplished.
Symbolically, Bush’s visit had to have an impact on both Israelis and Palestinians. No sitting president has visited the West Bank before or criticized Israel’s “occupation” from that locale as Bush did, even using the term “occupation.” That may have been reassuring to Palestinians.
To balance the scales, Bush also reassured Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that no peace deal will be struck unless Palestinians satisfy all of Israel’s security requirements. A tall order, considering Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has little control over terrorists in Hamas-run Gaza, or anywhere else for that matter.
An even taller order: Bush’s claim that peace between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors will come before the end of this year.
If that happens, it will redound to the president’s eternal credit. Yet experience shows that such lofty predictions too often sputter. We long for peace along with the president. But given the relative weakness of all three leaders and violent opposition on both sides, it’s hard to picture so quick a resolution.
Beyond Israel, Bush’s tour took him to Arab capitals where he talked up his pro-democracy agenda. That merits our support, but praising the feudal dictatorship of Bahrain as a model of democratic reform is laughable.
No doubt the president had a narrow line to walk, juggling American energy and security concerns, the growing Iranian threat, support of Israel and the search for regional stability. That cannot be easy for any president. That Bush was well received everywhere he went suggests he juggled well.
Israel and the Jewish people have had their hopes raised and dashed too often in this long saga. We don’t want that to happen again. So if the president is promising real peace for Israel, he had better deliver it.
CopyrightJ, the Jewish news weekly of Northern California