Netanyahu Has Lost the War of Words

The Prime Minister’s recent attempts at positive rhetoric cannot make up for what he said to win the election.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a partial endorsement of the Arab Peace Initiative on Thursday, May 28th, the latest in a series of conciliatory remarks meant to earn back political capital following intense criticism of his apparent disavowal of the entire premise of a two-state solution with the Palestinians in the days before Israel’s elections in March.

“This initiative is 13 years old,” said Netanyahu, “and the situation in the Middle East has changed since it was first proposed. But the general idea — to try and reach understandings with leading Arab countries — is a good idea.”

Proposed in 2002 by the late King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the Arab Peace Initiative offered peace and normalized relations with all of the Arab League member states for Israel in return for an agreement with the Palestinians that ended the conflict in line with a two-state solution. The Israeli government of Ariel Sharon responded with a resounding rejection of the proposal, and every Israeli government since then has also declared their opposition.

Such vociferous opposition makes Netanyahu’s somewhat positive comments about the Initiative surprising, given the language used, but also unsurprising given the situation the Prime Minister finds himself in. Facing pressure from President Obama and other world leaders to recommit himself to peace with the Palestinians and the establishment of a Palestinian state, addressing the Arab Peace Initiative serves as a seemingly easy way for Netanyahu to prove his diplomatic bona fides.

In addition to being part of Netanyahu’s attempts to rollback his campaign rhetoric and regain some legitimacy in the international community, his remarks also stand as a reversal of his own previously stated opinion on the initiative. He has consistently come out against the Initiative over the past decade. Speaking in September 2014, he called the Initiative outdated that was not realistic given the dangers posed by ISIS and Iran’s nuclear program, among other issues.

Netanyahu’s reversal on the Arab Peace Initiative is one reversal among many, though. He is still finding himself unable to convince Israel’s allies, most notably President Obama and President Hollande of France, that he truly believes in making a two-state solution happen. He addressed his pre-election remarks on peace and a Palestinian state as well on Thursday.

“Before the elections, I was asked in an interview [about the possibility of a Palestinian state coming into being on my watch], and I replied that I don’t estimate it will happen. I don’t think it will happen…I did not renounce the idea [of a two-state solution], but I explained what’s the problem with it.”

The problem with his response is that his statement about a two-state solution, from just a day before Israel’s March 17th elections, leave little room for interpretation. He was asked by the pro-settler NRG news website whether there would be no Palestinian state on his watch, and he replied, “Indeed.” Nothing more, nothing less. “Indeed.” It is hard to see that as meaning anything besides being opposed to creating a Palestinian state.

It was cynical electioneering meant to poach votes from his right-wing rivals and make his Likud party the largest in the Knesset (giving him first choice to form a governing coalition), and it was clear from the moment he made his remark that it would have a decidedly negative impact on Israel’s standing amongst its allies. Netanyahu’s attempts to walk back his controversial statement in an interview with MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell were met with derision from the White House.

More recently, talking with Bloomberg’s Jeffrey Goldberg, President Obama made it clear that he has no plans on forgetting what Netanyahu said, partially because it forced the White House to openly rebuke the Prime Minister or else face the risk of losing credibility.

Netanyahu has not helped his own case with the way he has formed his new government. Silvan Shalom, who will handle the negotiations with the Palestinians if and when they resume, in the past has expressed his opposition to the creation of a Palestinian state.

As the position of Foreign Minister remains unfilled, the day-to-day running of the ministry falls to Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, who is unambiguous about her rejection of a two-state solution and her support for unrestricted settlement expansion in the West Bank. “We need to return to the basic truth of our right to this land,” she said at her inaugural speech at the Foreign Ministry to an assembled crowd of ministry employees, “this country is ours, all of it. We didn’t come here to apologize for that.”

That’s just within his own Likud, though; the other parties in his coalition are not exactly known for their support for a two-state solution. Shas and United Torah Judaism, the two Ultra-Orthodox parties in the government, are not particularly concerned with such matters, being more interested in domestic policies related to their electoral base. Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu Party supports a two-state solution but is opposed to dividing Jerusalem and a right of return for refugees.

Naftali Bennett and his Jewish Home Party are, though, adamantly opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state. Openly annexationist, Bennett has proposed his own alternative that gives the Palestinians greater autonomy while annexing most of the West Bank. Hardly a government that inspires optimism when it comes to making a two-state solution happen.

The mess surrounding a short-lived Defense Ministry pilot program to bar the use of certain buses in the West Bank by Palestinians also drew harsh criticism from both the opposition in the Knesset, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, and the international community and media, delivering another blow to Israel’s image (as well as Netanyahu’s as its leader).

Unfortunately for the Netanyahu, he is finding that he is simply not being believed anymore, both in Israel and internationally. There is a palpable mistrust of him among Israel’s allies. It was expected that, after Avigdor Liberman vacated the Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu would eventually select a fresh new face to reinvigorate Israel’s diplomatic efforts. Instead, though, he has left it open, ostensibly in case Knesset opposition leader Isaac Herzog suddenly decides he has changed his mind and really wants to join Netanyahu’s government.

Areas of responsibility normally covered by the Foreign Ministry have been split up and handed out to different cabinet ministers, with Tzipi Hotovely running daily affairs as noted before. Dore Gold, a long-time Netanyahu confidante and foreign policy advisor (as well as former Ambassador to the UN), has been made Director-General of the Foreign Ministry, albeit running a directionless and demoralized diplomatic corps.

Israel is being deprived of a leadership in its international affairs just when it needs it most. With Netanyahu out of favor with Israel’s most important allies and a government dominated by opponents of a two-state solution, the country lacks someone who can interact with the world in a positive manner. Increasingly on the diplomatic defensive, even briefly being threatened with expulsion from FIFA, there is no one to effectively coordinate those defensive efforts.

Whether it be Dore Gold, close Likud ally Tzachi Hanegbi, or former Ambassador to Washington and best-selling author Michael Oren from Kulanu, Netanyahu is not exactly lacking qualified names to take over the Foreign Ministry. Instead, both supremely confident in his own abilities as a diplomat and deeply desiring of a new partner to bolster his weak coalition, the post of Foreign Minister remains empty.

Garrett Khoury, a graduate of The George Washington University’s Elliot School of International Affairs and an MA Candidate at Tel Aviv University, is the Director of Research and Content for The Eastern Project. Garrett has previously worked with The Israel Project in Jerusalem and The American Task Force on the Western Sahara in Washington, DC. Contact at: [email protected]