Focus on policy, not embassy
Hehir, J. Bryan
I I I I I II II II A MERICAN political figures have a passion for the peripheral when it comes to the Middle East. The tendency to fasten on the edge of reality ~ervades both parties and...
...To touch Jerusalem is to be reminded of the explosive human emotions which lie just below the surface o f the unresolved drama of the Middle East...
...The tendency to fasten on the edge of reality ~ervades both parties and reaches crisis proportions during election years...
...The danger here is in turning this very sensitive question into a test of will rather than of reason...
...It fails entirely, for example, to grasp the evocative power which Jerusalem has for the three major faiths of the region...
...But this theme plays directly into Senator Moynihan's argument that the move must be made precisely to stand firmly against the declared enemies of Israel...
...Bryan Hehir was recently appointed senior research scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics and research professor of ethics and international politics at the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown...
...A preemptive move by the United States will polarize all the participants in the Middle East on both the issue of Jerusalem and on the broader agenda O f the region...
...The key argument against the Moynihan-Lantos proposal should be its impact on U.S...
...finally it includes addressing the religious nature of the Middle East problematic...
...It is important to note early in this analysis that the initiative for this legislation did not come from either the government of Israel or the Jewish community in the United States...
...it should be the last issue confronted, not the first...
...Far too often the religious factor is reduced to access to sacred shrines...
...Ambassador Sol Linowitz, a universally respected diplomat and a key figure in American Jewish affairs, commented on the proposal for the Christian Science Monitor: "Israel did not put it up...
...I know personally how disturbed they are at the way it was put forward...
...In the Jerusalem case, the secretary's argument is exactly right but marginally effective...
...It is not easy to define how the religious dimension relates to the other aspects of the question, but it is fatal to ignore the connection...
...relations with Israel and with a range of Arab states, and I II I I I II the Palestinian question...
...That's one thing that I want to say unequivocally...
...On Jerusalem the charge may be correct, but its persuasive power has been eroded by other conflicts with the Congress...
...policy in the Middle East...
...The essence of wise policy involves an ordering of the key issues...
...Jerusalem symbolizes the area's unique fusion of religion and politics...
...For Israelis Jerusalem is the finally undivided capital of their state...
...Lantos (DCal...
...The religious dimension of the Middle East question needs to be addressed as part of a broader approach to the region...
...The secretary warned that moving the embassy would "fan Islamic extremism...
...Secretary Shultz made the point but failed to enlarge upon it...
...trying to put it first -- even by a symbolic move -- runs counter to logic and experience...
...The Congress has better and more urgent tasks to perform in foreign policy...
...To understand the role of Jerusalem requires attention to the second theme which the Moynihan-Lantos proposal ignores: the relationship of symbol and substance in the' Middle East...
...policy in the region...
...Congressional proposals to move the embassy ignore -- or consciously reject -- two themes which U.S...
...Embassy from Tel Aviv (where it has been since the United States established diplomatic relations with the state of Israel) to Jerusalem...
...Schultz's second argument is I I I II I IIII Church/world watch II II I I I Focus on policy, not emaassy J. Bryan Hehir III I I that the legislation amounts to congressional interference in the executive's role in foreign affairs...
...Both bills have several cosponsors and no serious public opposition in the Congress...
...The Shultz letter, although sound in its conclusion to oppose the move, may have eroded the administration's case by using three arguments rather than the single theme which should alone carry the day...
...1 June 1984:329...
...This is particularly the case with Jerusalem...
...J. BRYAN HEHIR (J...
...policy must address in the Middle East: The first is a recognition of the multi-dimensional nature of the Mideast question...
...this narrow conception misses as much as it describes...
...For the Holy See the fate of Jerusalem is still to be settled by some form of negotiation...
...the emphasis should be on the need for a viable U.S...
...For Arabs -- Moslem or Christian -- at least half of Jerusalem is "occupied territory...
...The Moynihan-Lantos legislation elicited firm opposition from Secretary of State Shultz and the threat of a veto from President Reagan...
...Jerusalem is on the edge of the negotiating agenda...
...It includes superpower relations, U.S...
...The catalyst for this debate is legislation submitted in the Senate by Senator Moynihan (D-NY) and in the House by Rep...
...The prototypical example of this characteristic is the astounding amount of time, energy, and debate being given to the proposal to move the U.S...
...For several months now, the congressional-executive clash over foreign policy has extended over several issues (Lebanon, Central America) where the administration's complaints have hardly been convincing...
Vol. 111 • June 1984 • No. 11
