Israel’s hopes for continued good footing with the US administration were apparently delivered a blow Thursday, as incumbent American envoy to the UN, Ambassador Susan Rice, retracted her candidacy for new Secretary of State.
Widely considered a front-runner to become Hillary Clinton’s replacement in the role, US President Barack Obama confirmed he had accepted the decision by the pro-Israel envoy due to “unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks”.
Rice, who has come under fire for her botched response to the attacks on the US Embassy in Benghazi, which saw the American administration initially claim the incident in which four embassy staff including the US Ambassador to Libya were killed was part of protests at the Islamophobic film The Innocence of Muslims, was considered a strong supporter of US relations with Israel, after she expressed America’s opposition to the recent Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN General Assembly.
Such resolutions constituted mere “distractions” from the real business at hand, she contended, calling on all those “who share our hopes for peace between a sovereign Palestine and a secure Israel to join us in supporting negotiations”.
Insisting there are “no shortcuts” in the long process to peace, she concluded: “Long after the votes have been cast, long after the speeches have been forgotten, it is the Palestinians and the Israelis who must still talk to each other—and listen to each other—and find a way to live side by side in the land they share.”
Reacting to the unequivocal approval by the assembly of the appeal for non-member observer status at the UN, she said: “we have long been clear that the only way to establish such a Palestinian state and resolve all permanent-status issues is through the crucial, if painful, work of direct negotiations between the parties.”
Casting doubt on Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas’ stated goal of achieving “a functioning, independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel”, she cautioned: “Today’s grand pronouncements will soon fade. And the Palestinian people will wake up tomorrow and find that little about their lives has changed, save that the prospects of a durable peace have only receded.”
Recalling to both the Palestinians and Israel their often-claimed desire of reinvigorating peace talks as a means to achieve a viable agreement, she urged “both the parties to resume direct talks without preconditions on all the issues that divide them”.
Expressing continued US opposition to “any and all unilateral actions in international bodies or treaties that circumvent or prejudge the very outcomes that can only be negotiated, including Palestinian statehood”, she pledged America’s commitment to supporting Israeli security as she warned those celebrating the Palestinian victory it “does not establish that Palestine is a state”, nor lead one step closer to inevitable membership of the UN.
The UNGA vote on Palestinian statehood was by no means the first instance of Rice’s vehement support for the Jewish State, after she warned a UN Security Council Open Debate on the Middle East in October, that despite America’s disapproval of Israeli settlement policy, “the fate of existing settlements must be dealt with by the parties along with other permanent-status issues”.
Any form of unilateral action to establish Palestinian statehood, she stressed “would only jeopardise the peace process and complicate efforts to return the parties to direct negotiations” adding that “any efforts to use international fora to prejudge final status issues...(would not) foster the trust essential to make progress towards a two-state solution”.
Rice’s resignation appears to now pave the way for her closest perceived contender for the role, Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the unsuccessful Democrat Presidential candidate in 2004 elections.
Meanwhile, President Obama sought to redress any concerns about the loss of a potential ally in the US administration, with his speech to the 6th annual Chanukah reception at the White House Thursday, to coincide with the 6th night of the Festival of Lights.
He affirmed the country’s “unshakable” support for Israel as he celebrated the Jewish Festival of Lights at the White House on Thursday.
“Obviously I know I speak for all of us when we say that America's support for our friend and ally Israel remains unshakeable during these difficult times,” Obama said.
The President and First Lady Michelle Obama were joined at the White House by 600 guests, including Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, Supreme Court Justices Elena Kagan and Ruth Bader Ginsburg and several leaders of the American Jewish community.
Lighting the candles of the Menorah Rabbi Larry Bazer, who had to turn down an invitation to celebrate the holiday at the White House last year because he was serving in Afghanistan as the Joint Forces Chaplain for the Massachusetts National Guard.
Obama said Bazer, who was the only rabbi in Afghanistan at the time, instead lit a custom-built electric menorah in the central square of Camp Phoenix in Kabul.