Yitzhak Benhorin
Clinton takes charge
Op-ed: Hillary Clinton placing her prestige on line in bid to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace
Part 2 of article
Some argue that she would not have stepped into the Middle Eastern swamp had she not thought there is a good chance for a deal; that is, to finalize what her husband, former President Bill Clinton, failed to achieve in Camp David a decade ago.
A Washington Post editorial accused the Obama Administration of creating the freeze crisis. According to the article, the pointless demand of Israel to stop construction completely is prompting President Obama to pay dearly now, while using the currency he should have utilized later in order to elicit Israeli compromises for a Palestinian state.
George Mitchell is still the special US envoy to the Middle East, yet the management of the negotiations has shifted to Secretary of State Clinton’s hands. This marks the first time she is placing her personal prestige on the line.
Part 1
Yitzhak Benhorin
Op-ed: By turning freeze into major issue, US now paying dearly for moratorium’s extension
Hillary has a good reputation in Israel and she also possesses enough self-confidence to point to moves that in her view undermine the chances for peace. Columnist Roger Cohen wrote in the New York Times that Hillary had been the darling of the Israelis ever since her first days as a New York senator when she spoke of the united Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. However, he wrote, she underwent a change.
This is of course a superficial description. Clinton spoke of a Palestinian state back when she was the US president’s wife, before others dared do it, and before she even dreamed of becoming a senator.
Will Hillary run for presidency?
As a senator from New York, Clinton highlighted her pro-Israeli positions on issues such as the united Jerusalem. Even though she is now serving as secretary of state, rather than a politician, politics is still very much flowing in her veins.
Despite her public declarations about not running for the presidency again, her close associates had not yet shelved the idea. It could happen in 2016, when she will be 69 years old. There is also a possibility that looks slim now: Obama deciding not to run for a second term in office, opening the door for Hillary.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Clinton has no intention of burning her bridges with Israel and with American Jews. However, she knows that as a mediator she has to be perceived as balanced.
Still, Hillary Clinton is no magician. Even if she manages to secure a 90-day freeze extension, the Washington Post editorial argues that the US Administration has no plan for day 91, noting that making peace in the Middle East requires the ability to think more than just one step ahead.
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