A SHAKY GRASP OF HIS OWN SUPERFLUITY:

In Praise of Diplomacy: a review of WE CAN HAVE PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND: A Plan That Will Work By Jimmy Carter (GERSHOM GORENBERG, NY Times Book Review)

[“W]e Can Have Peace in the Holy Land” is really a short op-ed article disguised as a book. The argument, which might easily have been put in 900 words, is that Obama should follow ­Carter’s own example, defy political calculations and throw himself into Arab-Israeli peacemaking.

The goal, Carter says, should be reaching a two-state solution, with the borders between Israel and the Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 armistice lines, along with minor territorial exchanges. Obama should get to work at the start of his term, put his own peace proposals on the table and persuade both parties to accept them. Carter implies that Obama must separate support for Israel from support for Israel’s policies. In short, he should do what Carter says he did to bring peace between Israel and Egypt.

One can hardly blame Mr. Carter for wanting to take credit for the only positive thing that happened during his presidency, but the fact of the matter is that the peace between Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin was entirely dependent on them and had nothing to do with the identity of the American president. Once Sadat decided peace would serve Egypt's interests better than war and there happened to be a hawk in control of Israel, who could silence the Right, the rest was inevitable.

Posted by Orrin Judd at February 14, 2009 10:39 AM