Ending the neoconservative nightmare

[IndianaGreen]

Disentangling Israeli interests from the rubble of neocon "creative destruction" in the Middle East has become an urgent challenge for Israeli policy-makers. An America that seeks to reshape the region through an unsophisticated mixture of bombs and ballots, devoid of local contextual understanding, alliance-building or redressing of grievances, ultimately undermines both itself and Israel.

I posted about the need for an American foreign policy in the Middle East and a divorce from Israel. Perhaps as Daniel Levy wrote in this piece, it is Israel that must divorce neocon America.

Sun., August 06, 2006 Av 12, 5766

Ending the neoconservative nightmare
By Daniel Levy

Israel does have enemies, interests and security imperatives, but there is no logic in the country volunteering itself for the frontline of an ideologically misguided and avoidable war of civilizations.

So what should be done, on both sides of the ocean?

It is admittedly difficult for Israel to have a regional strategy that is out-of-step with the U.S. administration-of-the-day. However, the neocon approach is not unchallenged, and Israel should not be providing its ticket back to the ascendancy. A U.S. return to proactive diplomacy, realism and multilateralism, with sustained and hard engagement that delivers concrete progress, would best serve its own, Israeli and regional interests. Israel should encourage this. Israel may even have to lead, for instance, in rethinking policy on Hamas or Syria, and should certainly work intensely with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas in encouraging his efforts to reach a Palestinian national understanding as a basis for stable governance, security quiet and future peace negotiations. A policy that comes with a Jerusalem kosher stamp of approval might be viewed as less of an abomination in Washington.

Beyond that, Israel and its friends in the United States should seriously reconsider their alliances not only with the neocons, but also with the Christian Right. The largest "pro-Israel" lobby day during this crisis was mobilized by Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel, a believer in Armageddon with all its implications for a rather particular end to the Jewish story. This is just asking to become the mother of all dumb, self-defeating and morally abhorrent alliances.

Internationalist Republicans, Democrats and mainstream Israelis must construct an alternative narrative to the neocon nightmare, identifying shared interests in a policy that reestablishes American leadership, respect and credibility in the region by facilitating security and stability, pursuing conflict resolution and promoting the conditions for more open societies (as opposed to narrow election-worship). The last two years of the Bush presidency can be an opportunity for progress or an exercise in desperate damage limitation. It sounds counter-intuitive, but Israel should reflect on and even help reorient American expectations.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/746312.html

[chill_wind]

1. A lethal witches brew of hard-line religion and politcs, oh yes.

"Beyond that, Israel and its friends in the United States should seriously reconsider their alliances not only with the neocons, but also with the Christian Right. The largest "pro-Israel" lobby day during this crisis was mobilized by Pastor John Hagee and his Christians United For Israel, a believer in Armageddon with all its implications for a rather particular end to the Jewish story. This is just asking to become the mother of all dumb, self-defeating and morally abhorrent alliances."

Not "dumb". Abhorrent, for sure, but strategically very well calculated.
And while it was mobilized by the RRR Christion Zionists, it's got a self-described "right of center, former hard-liner Zionist" at the helm.


cross-posting this that sunk fast the other day:

Evangelicals, revisited
Former GOP Hill staffer touts role of Christian Zionists
by Paula Amann


David Brog is hoping American Jews will give the Christian right a second look. In his first book, Standing With Israel: Why Christians Support the Jewish State, the Republican former Senate staffer has penned a love poem in prose to evangelical Protestants.

Asked why he wrote the book, Brog, who was chief of staff to Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) from 2003 to 2005 and earlier served five years as Specter's chief counsel on the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointed to encounters with Christian Zionists during his years on Capitol Hill.

(...)

Over the years, Brog relates, his personal Zionism shifted from the hard-line stance of Begin to the negotiating posture of former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, a distant cousin, to a security-minded, center-right stand.

"Indeed, he describes himself as coming "full circle from right-wing don't-give-an-inch, to a belief that territorial concessions might bring peace to the region and with the Palestinians ... to a belief that Israel should only make those concessions that it deems necessary to better protect its citizens from Palestinian terrorism."

(...)

more:



http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?SectionID=27&SubSectionID=25&ArticleID=5322&TM=59825.97


*************************************************************
What a religio-political witches brew we seem to have here. A self-professed Zionist heading up and whipping up the Fundie Christian Zionists for the RNC Republicans, after schmoozing around in behind-the scenes-Senate-politics, steering the legal "ethics" of Arlen Specter.

Oh boy. And people here thought the deadly PNAC neoconservative shell game was over.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2758018

David Brog's blog:
http://davidbrog.com/articlesbyauthor.php

[Erika]

2. Ok the Religious right as a salesman for Armageddon once more

Ok.

The Christian right has a sales spiel as to why the rich should be honored and revered, and the needy and the poor are worthless.

Spend our taxes on destruction, that's the way to peace, bushbots say.

Ok. And to think their president is spending my taxes.

[chill_wind]

3. Interactive map of our mil spending on countries world-wide

"The map indicates how much each country receives in U.S. military assistance in loans and grants. In the totals, money for the "economic support fund" is included (about one-fourth of the world total). These grants are to promote the "economic and political foreign policy interests of the U.S.," and while the money is not supposed to be used for military expenditure, it is frequently used as a de facto military aid, and it is categorized in the U.S. budget by the Office of Management and Budget as "security assistance." About three-quarters of all military assitance is awarded in grants and the remainder in loans."

SOURCE
USAID, U.S. Overseas Loans & Grants, Greenbook.

http://nationalpriorities.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=114&Itemid=132

Total Worldwide: $15,985,300,000
Israel: $3,694,500,000

See also Egypt ($1,739,500,000)

[Reckon]

4. Wow, I see why Poland is in Iraq

They are getting more aid than Israel.

[chill_wind]

5. Turkey makes out very well too,

Speaking of Poland, though--then there was our other big Bush Coalition of the Willing photo-op: Spain $0.