I normally agree with most of Dr. Aaron Lerner's opinions and observations, but this statement is just plain nonsense.
With the capture of Hussein Mr. Bush no longer needs a Palestinian-Israeli photo op for his re-election campaign. The capture may also change America's need to sacrifice Israel to Arab "allies".
I don't believe Washington's posture in the Arab-Israeli conflict is fueled by the re-election campaign. But even if it was, this noteworthy coup will only play for so long. As Moe Freedman so aptly put it last week in another context, "counting on the memory of the American voter is not a worthwhile strategy" and President Bush knows that all too well.
It hardly needs pointing out that Washington's pressure on Israel didn't begin with the war on Saddam. It didn't even begin with G.W. Bush. It's been around for quite a while now, and it seems that the only thing capable of damping it down (temporarily) is the interjection of some inconvenient terrorist atrocity that results in the deaths of lots of innocent people. Concessions and sacrifices by Israel, on the other hand, generally haven't served to relieve the pressure but rather to increase it.
Anyone thinking that the capture of Saddam will or even should make a difference on that score has, as they say, another think coming (unless it somehow serves to undermine State Department influence? Unlikely.) It's easy to understand Dr. Lerner's frustration, though. As he pointed out earlier today, before the big news hit,
With Israel facing pressure from the Bush Administration to ease security measures protecting the Jewish State from Palestinian terror attacks, Israel Radio reported this morning that despite the 42 specific known unresolved active known terror attack threats (one such known threat against the Greater Tel Aviv area was successfully thwarted on Saturday), Israel will not stiffen security measures against the Palestinians.
In the past such measures were taken to prevent Palestinian terrorists from successfully completing their missions. The measures were not taken in the past when Israel felt it necessary not to protect itself because of American pressure.
Historically, such "gestures" to make Washington happy ended in the murder of Israelis in successful terrorist attacks.
