CENTER’S FEITH OFFERS PRESCRIPTION FOR A NEW U.S.-ISRAELI AGENDA

(Washington, D.C.): In the wake of Benjamin Netanyahu’s
election as Prime Minister of the State of Israel, the
conventional wisdom has held that Mr. Netanyahu’s victory would
somehow lead to the deterioration of the crucial U.S.-Israeli
relationship. A more astute assessment of the implications of Mr.
Netanyahu’s rise to power reveals that his election should serve
to strengthen ties between the two countries.

Such an assessment is offered in an op.ed. piece appearing in
today’s Washington Times (see
the attached). The author is Douglas J. Feith, former Middle
East specialist on the National Security Council and Deputy
Assistant Secretary of Defense. In it, Mr. Feith outlines steps
that the new Netanyahu government might take to encourage a
constructive new basis for U.S.-Israeli ties: “Mr. Netanyahu
may be able to alter the agenda of the relationship, giving
Americans comfort that his policies are not only familiarly
conservative, but more beneficial to U.S. interests than those of
the Labor government.”

According to Mr. Feith, who is a founding member of the Center
for Security Policy’s Board of Advisors, key elements of such a
new agenda would include:

• Increasing Israeli self-reliance:
  “[Netanyahu] knows Israel can now begin to wean
  itself from U.S. economic aid, especially if it is
  serious about liberalizing the economy. He may propose a
  gradual phasing out of such aid.”
• Cooperation with the United States on issues such
  as ballistic missile defense: “Mr.
  Netanyahu can highlight Israel’s interest in America’s
  development of missile defenses. Mr. Peres and President
  Clinton gave lip-service to cooperation in this field,
  but they focused narrowly on specific joint programs.
  Israel has an important stake not only in those programs,
  but in certain U.S. programs like the one that would
  create a sea-based, wide-area defense system that would
  allow the United States, by stationing a single naval
  cruiser in the Eastern Mediterranean in a crisis, to add
  a valuable layer to Israel’s missile defenses.” And
• Working for a more mature U.S.-Israeli
  partnership that is not focused narrowly on territorial
  disputes: “There is more to the
  U.S.-Israeli relationship than whether Israel is going to
  relinquish territory to Syria or the Palestinian
  Liberation Organization. Not every American is fixated on
  pressing Israel to make further withdrawals.”

Central to the needed, new U.S.-Israeli agenda would be a
shared philosophy of peace through strength. In Mr. Feith’s
words, “Mr. Netanyahu has made clear that, like [President
Ronald] Reagan, he understands that negotiations with
non-democratic adversaries require cautious realism. One cannot
sensibly assume the other side’s good faith. Democratic states
can have peace only if they are strong and morally
confident.”

The Center for Security Policy takes great pride in Douglas
Feith’s latest contribution to the national interest and urges
that his recommendations become the focus of the dialogue set to
begin next month when Prime Minister Netanyahu visits Washington.