All’s Not Quiet On The Israel-Palestinian And Iran Fronts. Who’s Really Behind U.S. Policy?

In February of 2016, Derek Harvey, a former Army colonel who was one of the premier fact-driven intelligence analysts in the U.S. government, was appointed director for the Middle East on the National Security staff. He not only viewed Hezbollah, an Iranian-supported group, as the most urgent worry in the Middle East, but he immediately formed a bond with Jared Kushner-Senior Advisor to Donald Trump. He at once started to inform the president’s son-in-law that Hezbollah was on the U.S. list as a sponsor of terrorism; that it had 48,000 full-time military personnel in Lebanon; and that they were in Gaza and the West Bank to pose as an “existential threat” to Israel.(1) Given Jared Kushner’s ties to Israel, it didn’t take long before the paths to peace of prior administrations were shelved.

Neither did it take long before Derek Harvey told Jared Kushner that Iranian Revolutionary Guard commanders had integrated into Hezbollah’s structure in Gaza. It included a stunning 150,000 rockets, and a number of shady schemes to raise money, like money laundering, human trafficking, the cocaine and opium trades, and selling ivory tusks from Mozambique. According to Derek Harvey, nothing major happened in Gaza and Lebanon without Hezbollah’s acquiescence. Along with another 8,000 expeditionary forces in Syria, and Yemen, Hezbollah was moreover committed to destroy Israel.(2) It was therefore imperative for the Trump Administration to embrace Israel and isolate, even eradicate, Hezbollah and Iran-even if this meant sacrificing the Two-State Solution.

A “Reader’s Digest” Version Of Middle East Policy
Not everyone in the White House agreed with Derek Harvey’s military assessments. Nor did they like the out-of-channel approach. The message from them to Jared Kushner was to be careful and to take heed about his “Reader’s Digest” version of Hezbollah and Iran. But there wasn’t much they could do since he’d already won Jared Kushner and Donald Trump’s trust. Probably more, his anti-Iranian views dovetailed with theirs. David Harvey underscored this strongly to both: The new Trump Administration had to stop Iran. He also made sure to follow-up on Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s agreements from meetings. This meant, above all, the importance of a “new” dialogue and strategy to take a fresh look and confront the new realities on the ground.(3)

Like Donald Trump, he also shared an intense dislike of President Obama. To be sure, he complained often how America’s relationship with Israel and PM Netanyahu had deteriorated over the past eight years. This included a feeling that others did not appreciate the degree to which the fundamental balance of power had shifted. He strongly believed that an Arab-Israeli war would come home to Israel as no attack ever had. A full-scale assault, especially from Gaza, could not only impact their ability to actually fight but threaten their very existence. Another thing he resented was how President Obama spent too much time denouncing the violence between Israel and Gaza and appeasing Iran with a nuclear enrichment deal. This, while appearing to scorn relations with Israel.(4)

Perfect Proxies For A War
Hezbollah was also a perfect proxy for Iran to use to pressure and attack Israel, whose air bases could be pummeled with rockets. Considering this, and the many warnings that Hezbollah and Iranian units were worldwide-30-50 each in Columbia, Venezuela, South Africa, Mozambique and Kenya; David Harvey made Jared Kushner and Donald Trump believe that there was a potential for a catastrophic war with immense humanitarian, economic, and strategic consequences. An Iranian-Gaza-Israeli conflict would moreover draw in the U.S., quickly spreading to Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf, Turkey, and possibly Russia.(5) Consequently it would unhinge efforts to bring regional stability and peace. Israel must clearly backed over Iran and any Two-State Solution.

But the big question about Derek Harvey, Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump’s new Middle East policy, to embrace Israel at the expense of Iran and a Two-State Palestinian Solution, is: Did Harvey uncover the next ticking time bomb-Hezbollah-in the array of foreign policy problems facing Israel and the United States? Either way, critics say it hasn’t been quiet on the Israeli-Gaza Front. A number of deadly skirmishes between the two sides-which have left dozens maimed and killed-have only led to a number of more rockets being fired from Gaza. Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Forces have responded in kind with deadly raids, some of them botched. Even calls for a ceasefire have went unheeded, met with hate crimes on both sides and calls for leaders to be assassinated.

Strong Ideology And Good Governance
Critics also point to how a strong ideology doesn’t always make for good governance, let alone stability and peace. They fear that the restraining role of the U.S. in the late 1970s, whether fitfully promoting a resolution of the Palestinian Question through diplomacy or speaking against the settlement projects, has given way to a more permissive White House. This includes an “uneven” balance of power which always emboldens the one who suddenly has it. Unlike former President Ronald Reagan’s pro-Israel leanings, with the country seen as part of an anti-communist struggle that would keep Soviet influence in the Middle East at bay, there’s also the new view that Israel is Ground Zero in stopping Iran and what the Trump Administration sees as a major threat: Islamic Radicalism.

Whether or not this strategy will work is clearly being tested, and by far remains to be seen-let alone realized. Still, don’t expect Derek Harvey to go anywhere soon-or at least his counsel. Although he’s been reassigned, he still informs Jared Kushner and Donald Trump about the situation between Israel, Gaza, and Iran. Especially since he was “the most trusted military analyst” to General David Petraeus in America’s war against Afghanistan’s insurgency. In one instance, and true to his outspoken nature, Derek Harvey told Gen. Petraeus that as part of his National Security Council strategic review: “It’s the blind leading the blind.” He went on to say that the U.S. remained dangerously ignorant about the Afghan insurgency, and that basic questions had gone unasked.

More Of “The Blind Leading The Blind”?
As for the Israeli-Palestinian and Hezbollah and Iran fronts, some fear his accurate assessments in Afghanistan may now actually be haunting him and the Trump Administration with regards to Middle East peace. In fact, they point to the rest of his assessment about the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan. He ended his report by not only telling Gen. Petraeus that unless the intelligence gaps were filled-a new strategy would be futile, but that reconciliation efforts from all sides are likely the only way out of the war.”(6)

Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John’s Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.WN.com. You can read more of Dallas’ writings at www.beverlydarling.com and www.WN.com/dallasdarling.

(1) Woodward, Bob. Fear: Trump In The White House. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2018., p. 108.
(2) Ibid., p. 109.
(3) Ibid., p. 110.
(4) Ibid., p. 109.
(5) Ibid., p. 111.
(6) www.wikipedia.com. See “Derek Harvey.”