A New Special Envoy for the Middle East -Marty Peretz
The London Financial Times' first recommendation to Obama was about appointing Bill Clinton [pictured above] as "special envoy for the Middle East." By my count, there have been perhaps a dozen special envoys to the region in the last dozen years.
The first prerequisite for any solution to this conflict and for the acceptance of a real Palestinian entity is that the Palestinians demonstrate concretely that they do not still yearn to vitiate a Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
(New Republic)
[Vitiate: to invalidate]
The London Financial Times' first recommendation to Obama was about appointing Bill Clinton [pictured above] as "special envoy for the Middle East." By my count, there have been perhaps a dozen special envoys to the region in the last dozen years.
The first prerequisite for any solution to this conflict and for the acceptance of a real Palestinian entity is that the Palestinians demonstrate concretely that they do not still yearn to vitiate a Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
(New Republic)
[Vitiate: to invalidate]
3 comments:
I have to say that my occasional reader eme has been calling for Bill Clinton to be the special MidEast envoy for almost as long as he has been out of office. So, for some of us this is not a new idea. As for the need to "resurrect ill Clinton", that is new. After one of the most successful and popular Presidencies, leaving the country in great shape as it overlooked a new millennium, I think if Bill just wanted to sit back and write books, or just read them, his legacy was assured. Sure, it was slightly tainted by his personal travails, and tarnished a little bit by a press jumping on every word of support for his wife's candidacy, but just as W. Bush sealed his legacy by the evils he did to his country, Clinton's legacy will be sealed by the great work he did.
I don't think Obama would do anything to elevate Bill Clinton. But having been screwed by Arafat, perhaps he would reject the appointment as he'd know there wasn't a shot in hell he could succeed as envoy.
Why Tony Blair took a similar spot is unclear...perhaps Mr. Blair could not stand to be out of the spotlight.
I am not sure that Obama would not do this, but you make a good point that it is hard to understand why Bill Clinton would take it on! But then, everyone wants to be the one that solves this situation. Who knows, but I suppose time will tell.
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