An unanswered question on the Middle East

So I took Tom Ricks’ advice and read through the transcript of Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square interview with Barack Obama from this past summer.  Obama acquits himself well during the whole interview, but this part about Israel and Palestine stood out for me:  Israel has an interest not just in bunkering down. They’ve got ...

By , a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast.

So I took Tom Ricks' advice and read through the transcript of Fareed Zakaria's Global Public Square interview with Barack Obama from this past summer. 

So I took Tom Ricks’ advice and read through the transcript of Fareed Zakaria’s Global Public Square interview with Barack Obama from this past summer. 

Obama acquits himself well during the whole interview, but this part about Israel and Palestine stood out for me: 

Israel has an interest not just in bunkering down. They’ve got to recognize that their long-term viability as a Jewish state is going to depend on their ability to create peace with their neighbors.

The Palestinian leadership has to acknowledge that the battles that they’ve been fighting, and the direction that they’ve been going in and the rhetoric they’ve been employing, has not delivered for their people. And it is very hard, given the history of that region and the sense of grievance on both sides, to step back and say, let’s be practical and figure out what works.

But I think that’s what the people of Israel and the people in the West Bank and Gaza are desperate for, is just some practical, commonsense approaches that would result in them feeling safe, secure and able to live their lives and educate their children.

I’m in complete agreement that this is what the parties in the region should do.  It’s become increasingly clear, however, that none of the salient actors in the region possess anything like the willingness to acknowledge these facts of life. 

As Jonathan Chait, Todd Gitlin and Michael Cohen observe, Hamas really is dedicated to the destruction of Israel.  And Israel has long been unwilling to moderate its behavior on housing settlements in the ocupied territories. 

My point here is that while Obama’s rough outline of a solution makes perfect sense to me, I have no idea how we get from point A (the current moment) to point B (a moment when the relevant actors in Israel and Palestine agree with Obama). 

Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and co-host of the Space the Nation podcast. Twitter: @dandrezner

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.