Ehud Barak
Does Israel's Former Foreign Minister Regard the U.S. Lobby as a Pillar of His Country's Foreign Policy?
One of the tables at Thursday night's debate over the Israel lobby at Cooper Union will reunite three men who negotiated, unsuccessfully, at Camp David in 2000. Shlomo Ben-Ami negotiated for Israel. And Dennis Ross and Martin Indyk negotiated for the United States.
The talks ended disastrously. Israeli P.M. Ehud Barak made major concessions re the status of Jerusalem. But his offers on the West Bank fell short of Palestinian demands. And indeed the Jerusalem discussions led to Ariel Sharon's famous symbolic visit to the Temple Mount, and the Palestinians' bloody intifadah. read more »
This Thursday night, Ben-Ami, Ross and Indyk will take the side that there is no Israel lobby, or that its powers are vastly overstated by Walt and Mearsheimer. But their presence at the 2000 summit raises an important issue.
In the middle of the talks, Barak "called important allies in the American Jewish community, urging them to mobilize pressure against the Palestinians through the Clinton Administration." That is according to John Podesta, Clinton's former chief of staff, who is quoted in Clayton Swisher's great book on the talks, The Truth About Camp David.Don't Step on the Toes of Peace
When you have been dancing with the same partner for many years, you can anticipate his moves, your read more »
Hillary's Pander Bares Soul of a Seasoned Pol
If he is as smart as he thinks he is, Rudolph Giuliani must be starting to realize just how formidab read more »
