Michael Oren, who served as the Israeli ambassador to the U.S. from 2009-2013, discussed the Israel-Palestine conflict and the war in Iran at a Wednesday event co-hosted by the Clements Center for National Security.
Oren served in the Israeli Defense Forces and legislature and has published multiple books on America and the Middle East. In his introduction, William Inboden, executive vice president and provost, said Oren “epitomizes the scholar-statesman-soldier.”
Moderated by Paul Edgar, the Clements Center executive director, Oren’s talk included discussion about possibilities for resolving the conflict between Israel and Palestine. He said a “two-state solution” is not practical. He said stable institutions should be built in Palestine before statehood is considered.
“It’s so easy to say ‘two-state solution,’ which actually does nothing to advance the Palestinian cause,” Oren said. “You now have (157) countries recognizing the state of Palestine. … Has that moved the needle anywhere? Absolutely nowhere.”
Oren said the response to Israel’s war has been antisemitic, arguing it has held Israel to different standards than other democracies. He said protests against Israel’s war in Gaza are antisemitic because they have not applied the same scrutiny to countries that have histories of human rights abuses, and that Hamas relied on such a response when deciding to attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
Oren also said establishing a Palestinian state is not feasible because of the connection he draws between Palestinian identity and Israel.
“This is not about borders or settlements or Jerusalem. It’s about identity, and that their identity is almost wholly grounded in their victimhood and their struggle with (Israel),” Oren said. “Ask the people who are protesting on campus: ‘Who are the Palestinians other than victims?’”
The geographical territory of Palestine was an Ottoman territory that was placed under British control by the League of Nations in 1922, according to the United Nations. The British ceded control of the territory to the UN after violence between the Palestinian Arab and Jewish populations had grown too great for them to manage.
The term “Palestinian” can refer to either the territory’s inhabitants or descendants of Palestinian Arabs according to the Cambridge, Oxford and Merriam-Webster dictionaries.
Oren also spoke about the importance of the war in Iran. Oren said the Trump administration’s biggest mistake before going to war with Iran was not presenting the necessary reasons to the American people. Removing the regime in Iran, he said, would hobble Hamas and Hezbollah and allow for peace between Israel and several Muslim states.
Oren said America needs to set the goal of the war as “winning,” rather than just containing the conflict. He said that by not allowing Israel to conclude their wars in the past, the U.S. has ensured that fighting in the Middle East will continue.
Oren said the U.S. needs to reassume its position as a world leader and help establish a new government in Iran to prevent the formation of a power vacuum.
“There’s an illusion in this country, I think a delusion, which is that you can somehow turn your back on the world, and it’s not going to affect you here in Austin, Texas,” Oren said.
