Thomas Nides, former U.S. ambassador to Israel, spoke at a Tuesday event hosted by Duke’s Program in American Grand Strategy and the Duke Center for Jewish Studies.
David Schanzer, professor of the practice in the Sanford School of Public Policy and director of the Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security, spoke with Nides about the relationship between the two nations in a moderated event.
“All anyone talks about is all [the U.S.] does for Israel, but Israel does an enormous amount for us,” Nides said. “They’re an important country for us. They’re an important country for our security. For the advancements of technology. They are important. So this is not just a one-way street.”
The Israel-Palestine conflict
Schanzer said that although the Biden administration supports a two-state solution, it seems as if diplomacy is just as close to achieving that goal as it was when the 1993 Oslo Accords were signed. He then raised the question of whether this policy now just serves as a talking point for the Biden administration, or if it is a real diplomatic strategy the White House hopes to pursue.
“The security threat to the State of Israel is not just Hamas, Iran or Hezbollah,” Nides said. “It is the potential collapse of the West Bank, which has an enormous impact on the security of Israel.”
Seven million Jews and non-Jews live side by side and neither are going away, so a solution needs to be found that will respect the opportunities for both sides, he said. The United States wants to support a two-state solution, but it is not likely to happen in the near future.
“I tell people all the time, you can be pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian people,” Nides said. “It has nothing to do with the [Palestinian National Authority] and has everything to do with the men and women and kids.”
Although Israel and the PNA are far from solidifying a two-state agreement, Nides believes that the United States needs to continue helping in the context in which they are able.
Expansion into the West Bank
According to Schanzer, aside from Hamas, the next biggest challenge to the two-state solution is the expansion of Israeli settlements on the West Bank. Although the United States and the rest of the international community have rejected Israeli settlement in the region, the Israeli government has ignored those concerns.
Nides stated that Prime Minister of Israel Benjamin Netanyahu’s belief that Israel should expand into the West Bank is not the position of the United States, nor of former President Donald Trump. He believes that it is the role of the international community to protest against the continued creation of Israeli settlements and displacement of Palestinians in the region.
Regardless, Nides believes that the United States alliance with Israel serves the nation’s security interests, so even though the U.S. government may not agree with West Bank expansion, maintaining a bilateral relationship is necessary.
“I look at the totality of the relationship, it is very important to keep the strong bilateral relationship,” Nides said.
Schanzer noted Israel has advanced over 12,000 new settler housing units in the West Bank since January, the highest number Israeli anti-settlement activist group Peace Now has recorded since it started collecting data.
“One settlement is too many for me. 12,000 is a really aggressive amount,” Nides said. “They wanted 25,000 settlements, and I got it down to 12,000.”
While Nides remains opposed to Israel’s expansion into the West Bank, he believes that it is necessary to accept in order to protect the only democracy in the Middle East.
“We hate it. It’s harming our ability to get two-solution done,” he said. “So then your life is not that simple … we know all of the good, and we know all of the bad. This is not untrue of many of our allies. Many of our allies do really bad stuff, I’m not justifying it. We have made a decision.”
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Abby Spiller is a Trinity sophomore and editor-in-chief of The Chronicle's 120th volume.