Dennis Ross, top Middle East adviser to two former US presidents, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, has shed his bipartisanship to campaign for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.
Dennis Ross.
Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski [file]
He now serves as Obama's senior adviser on Middle East issues and is visiting Jewish communities around the US to urge undecided voters to back his candidate. He is aware of the skepticism that many in this typically staunchly Democrat demographic have toward Obama's Israel credentials and his push for engagement with Iran.
Questions on these topics were just some of those that confronted him in a gathering of more than 200 Jewish voters in this crucial swing state this week. He spoke with The Jerusalem Post after fielding the crowd's queries, excerpts of both of which are presented here.
You began your remarks by saying Iraq's the most positive story in the Middle East right now. Are you worried that an early withdrawal could affect the balance in the Middle East?
The fact is, whoever's president, you're going to have a withdrawal from Iraq, because we simply can't sustain the presence we have there. How you create a political and diplomatic surge, married to the withdrawal, is important. For a long time I was in favor of using withdrawal as a lever on the political side.
Obama favors engagement with Iran, but the time for negotiations is extremely short given the progress Iran is making enriching uranium. What are you able to do diplomatically in such a limited amount of time that hasn't been done before?
What we've done during the last couple of years is basically pursue a policy of weak sticks and weak carrots - what a surprise it's failed. We have focused on the [UN] Security Council, which operates at the lowest common denominator, and that's one of the reasons that none of the four Security Council resolutions demanding Iran stop [enriching uranium] hurts the economy. So you've got to be prepared to go outside that forum.
One of the things that he's going to do is focus on how do you generate a whole lot more pressure, how do you begin to use the kind of diplomacy that will be a whole lot more effective?
Let me give you an example of what you could do. Saudi Arabia has enormous financial clout. Saudi Arabia has an enormous stake in Iran not going nuclear. But the Saudis have not been enlisted in a strategy to use that financial clout. Could Saudi financial clout make the difference in terms of European behavior? Yes. Could Saudi financial clout make the difference in terms of Chinese behavior? The answer is absolutely. If China had to choose between Iran and Saudi Arabia, they'd choose Saudi Arabia.
But we haven't created a strategy where we do that. We go to the Saudis and we treat everything in a segmented fashion right now... So one of the things you have to do is recognize where we have leverage and where others have leverage and how do you mobilize that leverage on the Iranian vulnerabilities.
One of the reasons the Europeans hesitate to do more is because when we don't talk to the Iranians, they fear the increased economic pressure means a slippery slope to confrontation. Now when we're prepared to talk, without illusions, with preparation, that makes it easier for the Europeans to put more economic pressure on. We might not have a lot of time, but we actually have quite a few options - if we're prepared to behave differently than we have.
Given how Obama said at the AIPAC conference in June that Jerusalem shouldn't be divided and then said the next day that he wasn't ruling out shared sovereignty with the Palestinians, how can voters know that he'll really stand with Israel?
I am convinced that he will stand by Israel. I am. If I wasn't convinced of that, I wouldn't be standing here. Do I think that at the end of the day he will do whatever's necessary if Israel's threatened? I do.
You raised the issue of Jerusalem. That was at the AIPAC speech. And what he said, he said the following: "Jerusalem is Israel's capital." He said the city should never be divided again. And it's true that in that speech he didn't make the third point, which is, the final status of the city will be resolved by negotiations. Before the speech he said that, after the speech he said that. The American position has been those three points.
The fact of the matter is, Jerusalem is Israel's capital. That's a fact. It's also a fact that the city should not be divided again. That's also a fact. The position of the United States since Camp David, the position, by the way, adopted in the Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty, signed by [prime minister] Menachem Begin, was that the final status of Jerusalem would be resolved by negotiations. Those are the three points. That's what his position is.
What do say about voters who will agree with you that he [Obama] supports Israel generally speaking, but that when it comes to a moment of truth - if Israel were attacked, for instance - that he wouldn't stand tough.
They don't understand his basic view of American interests, and also that he believes fundamentally in Israel's right of self-defense. One thing that's true about Israel, that's part of the Israeli ethos, is that Israel has always said we fight our own battles. They don't want Americans to come fight the battles for them. So I think it's important to understand who Israel is and what's important in their relationship with us. What's important in their relationship with us is to know they can count on us, but they don't want us to take their place in what they have to do for themselves. And I think it's important for any American administration to respect that.
You could argue that the Bush administration has tried the policy of engagement with the Palestinians that Obama advocates.
I don't think they know how to engage. They engage in a way that is completely ineffective. There's a kind of episodic approach to it. And the point of engagement is to engage in a way that's going to be effective.
