One of the biggest obstacles to securing a lasting Middle East peace deal has been the close alliance between Israel and the United States. Time and again, the US has blocked initiatives to ease suffering in Gaza and the West Bank and help negotiate self-determination for the Palestinian people. The US has used its United Nations veto repeatedly to override initiatives aimed at supporting the Palestinians. But now there are signs of a rift in that relationship.
Tensions between the US and Israel boiled over this week, with an unnamed White House official using a profanity to describe Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The official also told Atlantic Monthly journalist Jeffrey Goldberg that Mr Netanyahu was a “coward” who was more interested in his own political survival than in securing a peace agreement.
While the remarks were made anonymously, their significance should not be underestimated. US president Barack Obama has become increasingly frustrated with Mr Netanyahu, especially over the relentless expansion of his settlement-building programme in the occupied territories. The more Israelis who are settled on Palestinian land, the less likely a two-state solution – or, indeed, any solution suitable to the people of the West Bank and Gaza or to the increasing number of countries that have officially recognised Palestinian statehood.
The challenge for the Palestinians – and particularly for Hamas – is to allow the time for this to play out to their advantage. World public opinion is shifting in the Palestinians’ favour, so it is imperative that they present themselves as genuine peace seekers rather than aggressors.
A few weeks ago, most pundits expected that the US would automatically veto a proposed Palestinian resolution asking the UN Security Council to set a November 2016 deadline for a complete Israeli withdrawal from their territory. Through his own actions, Mr Netanyahu may have swung the pendulum in Palestine’s favour.
