Israeli Scholar Rates Obama's Middle East Policy

Nearly a year since his landmark speech in Cairo, U.S. President Barack Obama has yet to fulfill his promise to smooth Western relations with the Middle East, said Visiting Professor Shlomo
Avineri, who spoke to a packed audience in the Popper Room on March 9 at CEU.

In what Avineri called a “penetrating” speech, Obama’s June 2009 address in Cairo seemed to mark a turning point for American policies in the Middle East, one based on respect and dialogue with the world of Islam, engagement rather than confrontation with Iran, and a hope for a resolution to the Islam-Palestinian conflict.

“Maybe a year is too short to count, but maybe we can already see its consequences,” Avineri said. “His policies have not been reciprocated by any Muslim countries,” which according to Avineri could indicate Obama's new approach was either a strategic mistake or a reflection of naive idealism by a president lacking experience in foreign affairs.

A captivating speaker whose lectures always draw a large crowd, Avineri is a respected “centrist,” often taking the middle road on the thorny topic of Israeli-Palestinian relations. He served as Director-General of Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the first government of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and was a member of the Egyptian-Israeli Commission which negotiated the Cultural, Scientific and Educational Agreement between the two countries. In 1996 he received the Israel Prize, the country’s highest civilian decoration.

Avineri is a political science professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The event was organized by CEU's Jewish Studies Program, where Avineri is now a visiting professor.