Clinton Is Not Kissinger, And Mursi Is Not Sadat – OpEd

By Dmitry Zuyev

Joking title aside, Hillary Clinton is beating all records in the Secretary of State position. Nobody can accuse her of armchair politics. Frankly speaking, against the background of her activities, the current US President does not look like the architect of American foreign policy.

Of course, when Clinton travels to the Middle East we cannot but recall her great predecessor Henry Kissinger, thanks to whom peace was established between Egypt and Israel. He created the Camp David system that still forms the basis of peace in the Middle East, even if it is rather fragile. Back then, there was put an end to the inter-state confrontation; and the slogan proclaiming the vital importance of “throwing Israel down into the sea” fell to the lot of terrorist organizations.

Formally, Israel and Syria are still in a state of war, but that fact has no particular importance – especially if we take into account the impending collapse of the Assad regime. The Iranian issue is quite another matter, but strictly speaking it goes beyond the bounds of Middle Eastern policy.

Hillary’s visit to the Middle Eastern countries last week became one of the most important events. In the course of this tour, she urged Israel to revive contacts with the Palestinian Autonomy, which is technically not a sovereign political entity. The Prime Minister of the Autonomy Salam Fayyad passed a letter to the Israeli leadership through Clinton repeating previous conditions for the resumption of negotiations: release all Palestinian prisoners arrested before 1993 and permit Palestinian security structures to import weapons into the PA. Israel answered with a gesture of good will: the Speaker of Palestinian parliament and Hamas activist Aziz Duaik was released from prison.

At the time of Kissinger everything was clear: there was Anwar Sadat – a former Abwehr agent who had assumed all power in Egypt. Once he signed the contract, you could count on its implementation. Nowadays, Hamas that is ruling in Gaza executed three murderers without the agreement of Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), the head of the Palestinian Autonomy, although formally this is essential. Abbas’s authority does not extend further than the West Bank of the River Jordan.

The newly elected President of Egypt Mohammed Mursi is trying on the role of the peacemaker. Last week he had meetings with Abbas and Hamas leaders in turn. The intention is good, but who will reconcile Mursi with the Egyptian military, who are not allowing him to take part in any serious business? He needs mediators and protectors himself.

The only thing that is still pleasing the Palestinians is the sum of a hundred million dollars from Saudi Arabia aimed at “supporting the budget”. Yet this is the achievement of Mahmoud Abbas, and not of the autonomy as a whole. Everybody understands that Hamas is powerless against the current economic crisis in the autonomy.

As such the situation in the Middle East remains unstable.