Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – The man widely reported to be the leading candidate to become President-elect Obama’s national security advisor has reportedly proposed putting NATO forces in the West Bank in place of Israeli security forces – an idea that makes some Israelis uncomfortable.
Retired General James Jones, 64, is a decorated four-star general who spent 40 years in the Marine Corps, served as NATO’s supreme allied commander and chaired a panel appointed by Congress to assess the readiness of Iraqi armed forces.
Following last year’s U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice appointed him to confer with Israelis and Palestinians on security matters.
Israel argues that it must maintain security control over the West Bank because its major population centers are vulnerable to rocket attacks and suicide bombings from those nearby areas (The West Bank comes within 9-11 miles of the Mediterranean, leaving Israel’s populous coastal zone within easy reach of Arab towns and villages; Israel’s international airport also lies just four miles from the West Bank.)
Israel also wants a future Palestinian state to be demilitarized, with Israel maintaining control of border crossings and early warning stations on the mountains.
The Ha’aretz daily reported at the weekend that in response to Israel’s argument that the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) could not be trusted with security responsibility, Jones had proposed basing a NATO force in the West Bank which could later transfer control to the P.A.
“Israeli officials say that such a force sounds wonderful, but in practice cannot provide the intelligence necessary to prevent terror,” the paper said.
One source who is well-informed on Israel’s relationship to NATO said while he believed Israel has a “high regard” for Jones’ professionalism, he did not think there were any credible plans on the table regarding to deploying NATO forces in the West Bank.
The Alliance’s policy on the West Bank, laid down several years ago, is that NATO forces would only be sent to the Middle East following a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, at the request of both sides, and under a U.N. Security Council mandate.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said Monday the idea of deploying an international force in the Palestinian territories had been raised in the past but only as a possibility if all sides – Israel, the Palestinians, and NATO – agree.
He confirmed that would only take place in the context of a peace treaty, and would not be something forced on either side.
Knesset Member Yuval Steinitz, former head and current member of the powerful Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, told CNSNews.com he would be “totally against” the idea of deploying NATO forces in Palestinian areas in place of Israeli security forces.
He said a NATO presence would prevent Israel from being “able to attack and defend ourselves” while the NATO forces would not confront the terrorists. And sooner or later, after coming under a terrorist attack, the NATO forces would withdraw.
Israel has had a “very negative experience” with international forces in the past, Steinitz said, pointing to the situation in Lebanon.
Following the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah terrorist group, the mandate for a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Lebanon was expanded. One of its functions was to help Lebanon’s armed forces secure the country’s borders to prevent Hezbollah from re-arming.
Since then, however, Israel says that thanks to Iran and Syria Hezbollah now has more missiles than it had before the start of the war two years ago.
Steinitz said Hezbollah is bringing in missiles, and Israel cannot do anything about it.
Retired Brig. General Shlomo Brom of from the Institute of National Security Studies in Tel Aviv said that he believed Jones had received a “good grasp” of the reality here during his time as envoy.
Brom said he believed Jones viewed the situation in the “broadest strategic context,” linking it to the larger issues of Iraq and Iran.
He said he welcomed Jones’ ideas on “third party involvement” in resolving the conflict, but that would not necessarily be the view of the next Israeli government (According to opinion polls, rightwing Likud Party leader Binyamin Netanyahu is favored to win elections in February.)
Characteristically, Israeli government sources had little to say about the possible Jones appointment as national security advisor. Israel enjoys broad bipartisan support in Washington and government officials rarely comment on what are viewed as internal American affairs.
Asked about his role here as envoy, Palmor said Jones worked primarily with the defense ministry. But the defense ministry sidestepped comment, saying that Jones was a political envoy and that Israel relates to him in that capacity.
As envoy, Jones reportedly drafted a report critical of some Israeli security measures in regards to the Palestinians. Although it was never published, some Israeli officials were quoted as saying it could cause tensions between Jerusalem and Washington.