OpinionJournal - ExtraBeyond, above and behind every failed policy that has been devised to nudge forward the prospects of reconciliation in the Middle East there lies a simple if often unacknowledged fact: There can be no peace until the Arabs of the region openly accept the existence of Israel as a permanent, sovereign state. For 55 years most of Israel's Arab enemies have refused to do so. For 55 years the community of nations has tolerated, acquiesced in and thereby confirmed the propriety of that refusal.
To this day, Israel is treated in international affairs and by most members of the United Nations as a pariah state. The U.S., despite the generous and indispensable support it has extended to Israel, has too often gone along with that treatment. From time to time, as the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan documented in Commentary, it has even "joined the jackals."
The blanket exemption from treating Israel as an ordinary state and an equal member of the international community has had a pervasive impact on the calculus of war and peace. To Israel's enemies, it has sent a signal that the conflict between them may yet be resolved through Israel's complete delegitimization and destruction. To Israel itself, it has sent exactly the same dire signal.
� The U.N. Nowhere is this more salient than at the U.N. itself. There, Israel has been refused a place in the regional grouping of Middle Eastern states and hence an opportunity to serve on the Security Council and other U.N. bodies--an opportunity afforded to every other member state. In addition, U.N. members have prevented Israel from serving in any important role on virtually any functional agency or body.
To this day, Israel is treated in international affairs and by most members of the United Nations as a pariah state. The U.S., despite the generous and indispensable support it has extended to Israel, has too often gone along with that treatment. From time to time, as the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan documented in Commentary, it has even "joined the jackals."
The blanket exemption from treating Israel as an ordinary state and an equal member of the international community has had a pervasive impact on the calculus of war and peace. To Israel's enemies, it has sent a signal that the conflict between them may yet be resolved through Israel's complete delegitimization and destruction. To Israel itself, it has sent exactly the same dire signal.
� The U.N. Nowhere is this more salient than at the U.N. itself. There, Israel has been refused a place in the regional grouping of Middle Eastern states and hence an opportunity to serve on the Security Council and other U.N. bodies--an opportunity afforded to every other member state. In addition, U.N. members have prevented Israel from serving in any important role on virtually any functional agency or body.
Comments