Clinton on a diplomatic tightrope to prove she can deal with the Arabs

Published on Saturday 3 January 2009 19:21

WHEN Hillary Rodham Clinton ran for a New York Senate seat nine years ago, she struggled to persuade sceptical Jewish voters of her support for Israel. After all, she had once stood by as the wife of Yasser Arafat delivered an inflammatory attack on Israeli policies.

Now, having secured her standing as a friend of Israel, Clinton must show a new audience that she can also be a mediator in her next role as US Secretary of State, when her first challenge may well be the renewed violence in Gaza. Given Clinton's chequered history with Arab-Israeli issues, that could be tricky.

Clinton brings several strengths, according to current and former aides and Middle East experts, including her knowledge of the region and lingering goodwill among Arabs and Israelis won by her husband, Bill Clinton, for his efforts to broker a peace deal in the waning days of his presidency.

But Hillary Clinton will have to reassure the Palestinians that she too can be a broker, working with Egypt and other Arab neighbours – and putting pressure on the Israeli government when needed.

"She's going to have to demonstrate her independence from Israel," said Aaron David Miller, a public policy analyst at the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars. "Our interests are inevitably going to diverge from their interests. We cannot be an 'amen corner' for them."

The diplomatic tightrope was evident last week as the departing secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, condemned Hamas for firing rockets into southern Israel while she privately urged Israeli leaders to agree to a ceasefire.

Clinton has not commented on the latest violence; a spokesman said she would abide by the principle that "there is one Secretary of State at a time".

But the evidence supporting her pro-Israeli stance is strong. As New York's junior senator, she condemned a round of Hamas rocket attacks on Israeli towns in May 2007. "I stand with the people of Israel who live in fear as their homes are besieged, and maintain my unwavering commitment to the welfare and survival of the state of Israel," Clinton said in a statement at the time. Her opposition to talks with either Hamas and Iran have also been cited.

But when she was First Lady, Clinton made waves on two occasions for seeming to tilt towards Palestinian interests. In 1998, she told a gathering of Israeli and Arab teenagers that creating a state of Palestine was "very important for the broader goal of peace in the Middle East."

At the time, the White House disavowed her comments. Today, the two-state solution is a central part of the American blueprint for a peace deal.

More trouble loomed in November 1999, when Clinton, by then a Senate hopeful, visited the West Bank town of Ramallah. At a ceremony with Palestinian health officials, the First Lady did not react when Suha Arafat accused Israeli forces of using "toxic gases" against Palestinians, causing cancer in women and children. At the end of the ceremony, Clinton gave Arafat a polite kiss.

Some predict that Clinton will be given the benefit of the doubt merely because she represents a new White House. While Obama's response to the Israeli assault on Hamas has not differed much from that of President Bush, Asali said the Bush administration would bear the brunt of any anti-American feeling that bubbled up as a result of the attacks.

The challenge for Clinton, experts said, will be establishing strong relations with Egypt – critical to brokering a durable ceasefire in Gaza.

"She has to quickly restore the relationship with Egypt," said Miller, a former State Department veteran. "In doing so, she's going to have to bear the brunt of being accused of indirect negotiations with Hamas."