Rep. George Miller was left with plenty of questions following his trip to the Middle East, but the most perplexing may be, “When did Ariel Sharon turn into Mr. Happy?”
“I think we were most struck by how relaxed Prime Minister Sharon appeared to be for a guy who was, at that very moment, embroiled in a controversy with the Speaker of the Knesset and some very important votes within his own party. He was smiling more than I’ve ever known him to. Something must have been right,” said Miller (D-Martinez), who returned on Friday, March 25, from a congressional delegation to the Middle East.
“In previous meetings before, you know, he was not in the same mood.”
The eight-member delegation also included Bay Area Representatives Nancy Pelosi (D-S.F.) and Anna Eshoo (D-Palo Alto), and a Senate delegation — including Sen. Barbara Boxer — traveling through the region concurrently. J. was unable to reach Pelosi or Boxer.
Miller felt Sharon “made it very clear the situation he was in was very, very serious and there was a lot riding on it, but he also made clear his commitment to the process of disengagement and withdrawal. He was obviously well aware of the political risk he was taking within Israel and his own party.”
The members of Congress and their Israeli and Palestinian cohorts did not always see eye to eye on every issue. Israel’s announcement that it plans to build 3,500 additional homes in the West Bank came during the delegation’s week in-country, and Miller was less than enthusiastic.
“Obviously, any expansion of settlements while negotiating for the reduction of settlements is troublesome,” he said. “How troublesome it is, is for the parties to decide. I’ve said the settlements have been a problem for years. That’s not new with me.”
Added Eshoo, “The news 3,500 new units are going to be built is something at least some of us thought was detrimental. The prime minister, I think, doesn’t see things that way. He says everything is negotiable. And if, in fact, there are negotiations, I hope that will be a part of it.”
The delegates also met briefly with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, a thorn in Sharon’s side regarding the Gaza disengagement.
“He made it very clear he had serious disagreements with Sharon. Most members of the delegation felt he was not being helpful in moving this process along,” said Miller.
“He acknowledged that, restated his case and moved on. That’s not unusual in my business.”
Miller also expressed concern about the Israeli security barrier. He acknowledged the Israeli argument about the temporary nature of the fence and wall, but noted that “if it cuts off access to agricultural lands, families, jobs, water, those are short-term impacts that are very real in people’s lives.”
Eshoo said the barrier, though controversial, seems to be working.
“There’s very little question in our minds the barrier has helped relative to security,” she said.
“And of course every country has the right to secure its borders. But the border is contentious.”
The delegation had been slated to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, but he was at the Arab Summit. Instead they met with the Palestinians’ chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.
Erekat spoke of his concern that the peace process not become a series of moves unilaterally imposed by the Israelis, and came across to Miller as “a very forceful individual.”
The congressional delegation also traveled to Lebanon, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq. In Iraq Miller was overwhelmed by “a complete fortress [with] layer upon layer of security and you can’t even go to the bathroom unguarded and unarmed.”
Miller had hoped to see positive things on his trip to Israel and the Palestinian territories, but, in retrospect, he’s not sure he did.
“I guess you want to be hopeful. But you talk to an awful lot of people who’ve been around the process for a long time, fairly pragmatic people. They think, at best, the peace process is touch and go. That’s worrisome.”