Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability.
Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability.
Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability. In 1973, throughout the Yom-Kippur War, Henry Kissinger, then the U.S. Secretary of State, performed a key role in ending the clash between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria. He went on to broker a decisive diplomatic agreement between Egypt and Israel, marking a crossroads toward stability and a substantial American influence in the Middle East.
Kissinger’s diplomatic accomplishments stemmed from his commitment to a steady, step-by-step approach that defined much of his career. His main objective was to shift Egypt away from the conflict with Israel by participating it in a new Middle Eastern order led by the United States, illustrating parallels to how Prince Klemens von Metternich integrated post-Napoleonic France into the Concert of Europe. By commanding Egypt into this new framework, he aimed to detach the radical Arab states supported by the Soviet Union.
In working toward these goals, Dr. Kissinger provided urgent weaponry to Israel during a critical phase of the war, significantly aiding Israel’s position.
However, he also skillfully prevented an outright Israeli military triumph, ensuring the survival of the Egyptian army by preventing their surrender, thus avoiding the potential humiliation of then-Egyptian President Anwar Sadat by a victorious Israel.
According to former American ambassador to Israel, Martin Indyk, in his book Master of the Game: Henry Kissinger and the Art of Middle East Diplomacy, this approach was crucial. Indyk suggests that had the latter scenario occurred, neither Israel nor Egypt would have been receptive to the roles needed for Kissinger’s plan. The hard-won agreements between Egypt and Israel that followed validated Kissinger’s strategy and foresight, forming the cornerstone of his larger design. Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability.
In the Middle East now, U.S. President Joe Biden is somewhat confronted with a comparable geopolitical situation. First, it was Egypt, then Syria, and now the militant group Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007 after winning the Palestinian legislative election the year before, overran the Israelis in a surprise attack that threatened the Jewish State’s very existence in 1973.
Following Dr. Kissinger’s diplomatic blueprint, then-U.S. President Richard Nixon gave Israel the weapons it needed to defend itself against that threat. He even put America’s nuclear weapons on alert after the Soviet Union threatened to intervene in the war to spare Egypt from an Israeli defeat.
In a similar vein, President Biden has reiterated the United States’ commitment to defending Israel and sent two aircraft carrier groups and other armed forces to the Middle East to prevent Iran and its allies from getting involved in the Gaza War.
However, American support for Israel isn’t unqualified, just like it was in 1973. In addition to pressuring Israel to grant humanitarian aid access to the Gaza Strip. The Biden Administration has made it plain that, while it agrees with Israel’s objective of vanquishing Hamas, it would not stand for any Israeli proposal to retake the territory.
Furthermore, the so-called “two-state solution“—the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would coexist peacefully alongside the Jewish State—has continued to receive support from the United States. Additionally, the center-left political parties and 35% of the Israeli people accept this plan. But it is rejected by the present Israeli government, which is run by Likud.
From this viewpoint, the United States might be able to encourage a new diplomatic strategy in the Middle East. Just like it was in 1973. This would reinforce Israel’s military expertise and restrict Iran. While also backing the Palestinians in achieving their goals of political independence and economic recapture. Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability.
An idea like this could be a module of a larger Arab-Israeli strategy that closely be similar to the one in Washington. It was chased prior to October 7. Setting the stage for the Arab World and the Jewish State to restart normal relations. As part of an attempt to contain the menace posed by Iran and its regional proxies. One of which is estimated to be destroyed at the end of the current war.
Therefore, the Biden Administration can bring back its proposal to restore Saudi Arabian-Israeli relations. In the framework of the Abraham Accords and incorporate a fresh push for the two-state solution into that endeavor.
Under such circumstances, Saudi Arabia and the other Arab Gulf States. Might become key contributors to funding the Gaza Strip’s economic reconstruction. Under a diplomatic plan supported by the Arab League. Hamas may give way to the Palestinian Authority (PA). A moderate movement that rules the West Bank and maintains peace with Israel, as the dominant force in Gaza.
It is possible that a multinational military force headed by Egypt and Jordan could seize control of the Gaza Strip. Possibly with the assistance of EU peacekeeping forces led by France and Germany. The EU expresses interest in stabilizing its strategic neighborhood and advancing an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
This could take years and as part of it. The relevant authorities could schedule free elections in the West Bank and Gaza. Perhaps, in three years, after rebuilding the Gaza Strip economically. This would set the stage for this territory to become the Middle East’s Singapore. As the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat had predicted, a commercial hub and tourist destination.
Ultimately, Israel and Egypt signed the last formal agreement in 1977. This time, the US-promoted agenda and peace vision would shape the agreement.. Centered on the creation of an Israeli and Palestinian state, and integrated into an Arab-Israeli partnership.
Is it possible that, like the Egyptians and Israelis in 1973? The Palestinians and Israelis are now weary from decades of conflict and bloodshed. They are ready to travel the long road toward peace. Washington could try that idea, at least. Reshaping the Middle East: A Path to Israeli-Palestinian Peace and Regional Stability.
