Former Israeli liaison to Congress Yoram Ettinger says that the recent trend in the Bush Administration to give Secretary of State Powell more say in American relations with Israel is not good news. "The State Department, ever since it advised President Truman against recognizing Israel, has never been particularly friendly to Israel," Ettinger told Arutz-7 today. There is no reason to panic, though, "because Powell is not so strong within the Bush Administration."
Ettinger said that the Powell-Beilin meeting is not in itself a tragedy: "The real question is not what Beilin will tell Powell, but rather how the Israeli government will act. Israel is one of the few countries in the world that is giving in to State Department pressures, thus giving Powell one of his few foreign policy achievements - and Bush, in turn, gives him more leeway here. If we would have withstood his pressures, and given more backing to Rumsfeld and Cheney - who are, unfortunately, more hawkish than some of our own ministers - the picture would have been different."
Ettinger said that the Powell-Beilin meeting is not in itself a tragedy: "The real question is not what Beilin will tell Powell, but rather how the Israeli government will act. Israel is one of the few countries in the world that is giving in to State Department pressures, thus giving Powell one of his few foreign policy achievements - and Bush, in turn, gives him more leeway here. If we would have withstood his pressures, and given more backing to Rumsfeld and Cheney - who are, unfortunately, more hawkish than some of our own ministers - the picture would have been different."