The Forward’s Nathan Guttman has a good/shocking piece about George Mitchell losing power over the alleged peace process and Dennis Ross’s growing status within the Obama administration. The guy who headed the Jewish People Policy Planning Institute, who was Israel’s lawyer during the last negotiations, has been promoted– why? For the reason I always state, because he has cred inside the Israel lobby… Note that the craven offer of last fall was Ross’s confection. And further down, notice the disgusting and frank descriptions of Ross as Israel’s advocate. John Mearsheimer and Steve Walt told us this a long time ago. Guttman:
The reported friction is, in part, a result of Ross’s increasing influence over Middle East peacemaking efforts. While originally focused on Iran and regional strategic issues, Ross’s portfolio has broadened to include Israel, as the White House has felt a need to repair frayed ties with American Jews and Israeli officials disturbed over perceptions that the administration was pressuring Israel.
Now, both Ross — who previously led U.S. efforts to advance the peace process over several earlier administrations — and Mitchell find themselves trying to save the current Israeli-Palestinian peace process….
Ross’s increased involvement in the Middle East peace process became apparent when the administration engaged in talks with Israel over extending the moratorium on settlement expansion. Ross, according to American and Israeli officials, was the driving force behind the idea of offering Israel a generous package of assurances — both defense-related and diplomatic — in return for three extra months of a freeze on the expansion of settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. A source briefed on the talks explained that Ross took the lead because the package was a matter of bilateral America-Israel relations and had a significant security component.
“Dennis is the closest thing you’ll find to a melitz yosher, as far as Israel is concerned,” said the Anti-Defamation League’s national director, Abraham Foxman, who used the ancient Hebrew term for “advocate.”
A senior Israeli official added that while Mitchell is the “chief contractor of the peace process,” when the United States needs “someone that speaks our language and can squeeze a compromise from us, they send Ross.”
