Robert Satloff
@robsatloff · Think tanks & analysts — US/UK
Robert Satloff is the executive director of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Sound analysis, smart recommendations on how to prevent #Hezbollah and friends from hijacking post-war reconstruction in #Lebanon, by my @WashInstitute colleague @haningdr
"We are calling out the occupation of #Palestine as unlawful." Somewhere, in diplomatic heaven, Lord Caradon is turning over in his grave. He was the wise and creative #British diplomat who was a chief architect of UNSCR 242, which authorized #Israel to retain territories occupied in the June 1967 war until peace was reached with #Arab parties. Unlawful? It is actually mandated by the Security Council, as authored by a British diplomat.
A sad day for #European/#Canadian policy in the #MiddleEast … — It is a sad day when well-founded criticism of the horrific violence of an extremist fringe gets expressed in the ban on imports produced in settlements of overwhelmingly law-abiding citizens. — It is a sad day when all these western democracies fail to note that not a single mainstream party in democratic #Israel today advocates a two-state solution and instead they offer policies that are not only oblivious to this reality but are likely to harden this stance. — It is a sad day when the “balancing” of anti-Israel policies come in the form of a statement denouncing antisemitism, which only underscores the fact that these leaders know that singling out Israel for such “special” attention smacks of the antisemitism they denounce. — It is a sad day that there is not a single word demanded by all these democracies of the #PalestinianAuthority, the ostensible partner in the two-state solution, not even restating all the promises that were made in the New York declaration cited in this statement. If these governments want to be irrelevant to the future of the #Israeli-#Palestinian relationship, they are certainly choosing policies that will take them there. https://t.co/ElI1SXONWz
Bold, courageous and spot-on "For #Gaza to Recover, #Hamas Must be Expelled" by @afalkhatib https://t.co/27jA9iTedY
Kudos to US Amb to #Lebanon #MichelIssa for taking unusual step of visiting #Israel for direct talks at highest level to advance trilateral framework agreement. This is the most positive, hopeful item on agenda of security/peace diplomacy these days - one that should transcend political divide both in Israel and in U.S. - and it would be diplomatic malpractice to let it wither due to indifference, complacency or inaction.
"#Israel is a cause that stands beyond the ordinary changes and chances of #American public life. In our pluralistic society, it has not been a #Jewish cause - any more than #Irish independence was solely the concern of Americans of Irish descent. The ideals of #Zionism have, in the last half century, been repeatedly endorsed by Presidents and Members of Congress from both parties. Friendship for Israel is not a partisan matter. It is a national commitment." Take a moment to re-read JFK's speech to a gathering of American Zionists 66 years ago today. https://t.co/OzZMb9DN41
Terrific reporting by @WashInstitute alumna @ClaudiaGroeling. Thanks to her and her @ThisIsBeirut_ colleague @AtrachRalph, assessments of #LAF performance in the pilot zones can draw on first-hand observation, not the wishes or fears of uninformed third parties.
If the #Lebanon-#Israel framework agreement collapses because the #LAF fails to fulfill its mission “to disarm and dismantle” #Hezbollah in its zones of responsibilities, it will be a tragedy foremost for the people of Lebanon, for whom this agreement offers a path to sovereignty, security, prosperity and peace not promised by any other so-called solution. It is not too late to correct these early mistakes and do the job right. https://t.co/s5vismyCs6
For a prime example of bad journalism on a complex #MiddleEast story, see this @washingtonpost article: -- Subhead of the article draws a parallel between #Israeli operations in #Lebanon and the #WestBank but there is not a single quotation within the story that makes that comparison. This provocative assertion seems to emerge from the imagination of the reporter or his editor. -- The fundamental distinction between the West Bank and Lebanon is that #Israel has declared on multiple occasions that it has no territorial ambitions in Lebanon, which it readily recognizes as a sovereign state with which it hopes to reach a peace treaty, which is very different from the murky, contested situation in the West Bank. If the @washingtonpost was intent on pursuing this fictional connection, it really should have started with first principles. - #Hezbollah and Israel didn’t just “renew fighting,” as this story states, suggesting these things happen spontaneously and without cause. The history is that Hezbollah broke a ceasefire on March 2 by firing rockets into northern Israel, allegedly out of sympathy for its Iranian patron, with Israel then retaliating by targeting Hezbollah and dispatching troops to create a buffer zone in southern Lebanon. -- The reporter creates a false sense crisis by suggesting that there is something sinister and foreboding in the fact that three weeks have passed since Israel and Lebanon established their first “pilot zones” in southern Lebanon without yet agreeing on the next set of zones. Really? After just three weeks? -- The one “independent” analyst cited in this article is one of the most virulent and extreme critics of the Lebanon-Israeli framework agreement, calling its terms “absurd” ( and saying the agreement “effectively puts Lebanon in U.S.- and Israeli-supervised receivership.” ( whatever that means. -- The article totally misreads the relationship between Lebanon-Israel negotiations and the broader U.S.-Iran conflict. This is what it says: “President Donald Trump is attempting to keep the peace here in part to advance talks with Iran. #Tehran has repeatedly tied a ceasefire with the United States and Israel to an Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon. Israeli strikes on #Beirut in June almost derailed a deal, and Iran signaled over the weekend that it would not reopen the Strait of Hormuz unless attacks in Lebanon stopped.” What is missing here is any discussion that the U.S. pursued two paths simultaneously – including Lebanon within the terms of the US-Iran memorandum of understanding while also mediating direct Lebanon-Israel negotiations unconnected to the MOU. Lebanese President Aoun @LBpresidency broke through this muddled situation by bluntly rejecting Iranian efforts to claim Lebanon as a protectorate, boldly and courageously demanding that the Lebanese government is the sole agent to speak for Lebanon, a position from which he then authorized the final negotiations for the framework agreement. The fact that Iran continues to talk about some connection between Hormuz and Lebanon while the Lebanese and Israelis implement their agreement has little operational significance and is an embarrassment to Tehran. The article misses all this completely. Bottom line: An article like this – which leaves readers dumber about a complex situation than they were before – suggests the Post didn’t go far enough when it took the axe to its woeful Middle East coverage earlier this year.
On behalf of the Trustees, Fellows and Staff of @WashInstitute, I extend our deepest condolences to the family of James G. Roche, former secretary of the @usairforce and longtime member of our advisory board, who passed away last week. A fierce patriot and courageous advocate of the U.S.-#Israel strategic partnership, his powerful voice and keen intellect will be sorely missed.
Today is the 74th anniversary of the decision by the #Jordanian parliament to name #Hussein bin Talal as king of #Jordan, replacing his ill father. Since Hussein was just 16 years old at the time, the #Hashemite kingdom was managed by a three-member regency council until he formally took the throne the following May. Indeed, a circle of wise, responsible leaders – people who understood Jordan’s precarious position and took sensible decisions to maintain stability and security -- was essential to Jordan’s survival then and for years to follow, during which Hussein matured into the widely respected king that navigated the region’s turbulence until his passing in 1999. Jordan today has a savvy, experienced monarch, older than Hussein was when he passed away, and a crown prince twice as old as his namesake was when he became king. Still, with Jordan facing unprecedented attack from faraway #Iran designed to sever the kingdom from its strategic allies, that circle of wise, responsible leaders on whom the monarchy can rely for sound judgment and sensible decisions is more important than it has been in a long time. Does it still exist? Yes, but the circle is smaller today and largely, though not solely, concentrated within the national security establishment. Hopefully, these stalwart, far-sighted men and women will speak up and speak out more, not to grandstand but to help shape public opinion and absorb difficult decisions. Jordan needs them.
Connected stories
- UK Announces Import Ban and Sanctions Regime Targeting Settlement Trade
- Aoun Asks Greece to Help Implement Israel-Lebanon Framework
- U.S. Says Hezbollah Disarmament Is Essential to Lebanon-Israel Framework
- U.S. Says Permanent IDF Presence in Lebanon Conflicts With Framework
- Hezbollah Chief Demands Israel-Lebanon Framework Deal Be Reversed