AFSI’s Mehlman stumps for alternative to two states

By Paul Haist

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The best possible solution to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse in the Middle East may not include the creation of a new Palestinian state—at least not in the view of one seasoned observer.

William Mehlman of Jerusalem is the Israel representative of Americans For a Safe Israel, a New York-based organization that consistently takes a very conservative view on Israel’s existential dilemma.

Mehlman, who co-edits ZionNet Magazine (zionnet.net), was in Portland in August to meet with members and friends of the Oregon AFSI chapter.

The best possible solution, according to Mehlman, would provide "the maximum degree of autonomy to the 2.4 million Arabs living in Judea and Samaria," while working out an agreement with Jordan "so that they (the West Bank Palestinians) can recover their Jordanian citizenship and can express their national aspirations as Jordanian citizens."

That vision precludes a new Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"That, I think, would be the best possible solution, but I don’t think we’re going to achieve that any time soon," said Mehlman.

For Mehlman, the political status quo with the West Bank Palestinians may be the best that can be expected for now.

"I don’t see a dialogue yet," he said. "The best solution would be to find a peace partner, which we don’t really have as yet. We don’t see anybody on the horizon."

Mehlman thinks the two-state solution that has dominated official U.S. thinking on the Israeli-Palestinian issue for years is wrong-headed.

"We’re trying to stress the fact that the creation of a terrorist or even quasi-terrorist state in Judea-Samaria constitutes a mortal threat to the war against Islamic extremism. They (Arabs) would trumpet this as a major victory and it would rise like a tidal wave over the Middle East, engulfing not only Israel and Jordan, but I fear many of the oil monarchies as well."

Mehlman wants the U.S. insistence on a two-state solution to be part of the public debate in the 2008 presidential sweepstakes.

"It should be part of the agenda of every one of the candidates," he said.

He singled out four potential candidates who might share, in varying degrees, his view of the two-state approach.

"(Rudolph) Giuliani has already come out declaring opposition to a Palestinian state in Judea and Samaria; he’s opposed to the two-state solution," said Mehlman.

"People on our side would include Sam Brownbeck, who is an evangelical and very much in the forefront of respect for Israel’s sovereignty and viability. I think Mitt Romney would probably come along on this, and so, I believe, would Fred Thompson, who has written some interesting comments about the policy we are pursuing. I ran one of them in the latest issue of Zionet," said Mehlman.

In the meantime, he’s increasingly concerned about "imminent life-threatening problems" facing Israel.

"Israel is in deep trouble. We’ve got Hezbollah with 20,000 rockets sitting on our northern border. We’ve got an increasingly, I’ve felt, al-Qaida-controlled Hamas in Gaza, and we’ve got an Iranian nuclear threat hanging over our heads.

"And we’ve got a political echelon that has proven itself amazingly inept, that is a political echelon in Israel," he said. "We could accept a certain degree of corruption. It’s the ineptitude …the Olmert government which has proved itself amazingly inept."

Gloomy outlook notwithstanding, Mehlman saw a possible silver lining in the recent eviction of the Palestinian Fatah faction from Gaza by the forces of Hamas.

"What happened in Gaza was a bit of a blessing in disguise," he said. "The moderate image of Abu Mazen (Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) was removed (from Gaza). We are now facing an enemy (Hamas) that is universally believed to be a pure terrorist entity. As such, I think we have the opportunity to go into Gaza, destroy those rocket emplacements, destroy those (weapons-smuggling) tunnels and possibly even reclaim in military occupation the former settlement areas."

Mehlman said he wasn’t recommending that Israel resettle Gaza, rather that it only occupy portions of Gaza with its military.

"While the settlements were in place, the western Negev was not a Kassam (rocket) free-fire zone. The settlements were deemed too expensive to maintain, so now we are defending Sderot and possibly Ashkelon," he said.

"So, reoccupying the settlement areas would at least move those rocket launchers back farther, and that sword that’s hanging over the western Negev would be removed."

While in Portland, Mehlman met with Oregon AFSI chapter organizer Inez Weissman, whom he credited for leading "the most active AFSI chapter" in the country.