Richard H. Jones was appointed as ambassador to Israel on September 6, 2005 immediately after Israel had destroyed the thriving Jewish towns in Gush Katif and made over 8,000 people into refugees in less than a week. Jones applauded that disaster as “courageous”.
Last week, we had the furor created by Ambassador Jones’ erroneous, prejudiced and vicious comments on Jonathan Pollard:
Speaking at a conference at Bar Ilan University on Israeli-American relations, Jones said, “Pollard took money and sold out his country… The fact that he wasn’t executed shows that he was treated mercifully.”
As disgusting as that statement was, his “apology” was almost as bad:
Later in the day, Jones apologized, saying his words reflected neither his personal views nor those of the Bush administration. Saying his remarks were “misinformed and misleading,” Jones added, “I certainly do not personally believe that Mr. Pollard should have received capital punishment, and I was appalled to learn that I had given that impression.”
That is a very strange explanation of his statement. He is saying that wasn’t speaking for either himself or Washington. Does he need psychiatric treatment? Does he have Tourette’s Syndrome? Was he coerced into saying it? Can a career diplomat be totally unaware of the makeup and effects of his comments? Words are a diplomat’s living. Of course, Jones meant what he said.
He made an unambiguous statement that Pollard committed treason for pay and should have been executed under the law, and that the US was merciful in not doing so. So what other impression did he intend to give?
Jones should have been recalled, but so far there has not even been a reprimand or statement about the subject from Washington. Washington could have attempted to distance itself from Jones’ statements and opinions, but it has tacitly accepted what Jones said about Pollard.
Jones serves at the pleasure of President Bush, and faithfully does what he is told. If not, he would not be where he is today.
Ambassador Jones had previously served only in Arab countries: Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Iraq, Kuwait, Kazakhstan and Egypt. He speaks Arabic, but not Hebrew, and admitted that he knew little about Israel upon his appointment. In his welcome remarks upon his appointment as US ambassador to Israel Jones reiterated his loyalty to the Bush “vision” for dividing Israel:
The Bush administration’s commitment to the vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side in peace and security is steadfast. I feel privileged to have been entrusted with the responsibility to help the parties advance our shared goal of peace and stability in the region.
His job was to be sure that Israel continued in the same direction and implemented the US Roadmap plan, as he said in his introductory speech.
A few months later, at the Ambassador’s Forum at Ben Gurion University on January 17, 2006 he addressed the group and reiterated the US “vision” for peace between Israel and the Palestinian Arabs in detail, and the steps that President Bush demands of Israel and the Arabs in order to fulfill his “two state solution” scheme. As has often been noted, Israel is pressured to do what it is told without benefits, while Abbas receives benefits without performance. Witness the US reneging on its promised support to help Israel cope with the 8000 Jewish refugees it had created at US behest, while sending extra aid to the PA government for their military around the same time.
In that Herziliyah speech Jones told a direct lie:
We fully support President Abbas’s efforts to build an effective and professional security force. Our US Security Coordinator, LTG Keith Dayton leads a multinational team of dedicated military professionals that is working on plans to assist this critical undertaking. We will further assist the effort with training and non-lethal equipment. We will not provide arms or ammunition, however.
In fact, both arms and ammunition were provided to President Abbas’ Fatah army, which then used them against Israel, as well as against Hamas.
However, Jones is not acting on his own, but is saying what he has been told to say, and pushing what he has been told to push. A US ambassador serves at the pleasure of the president, and can be recalled any time he displeases the president. Obviously, up to this point, Ambassador Jones has not displeased Bush.
That would mean that snubbing the Jerusalem Day celebrations along with the EU nations was what Bush wanted. It would mean that leaving the American embassy to Israel in Tel Aviv pleases Bush. Having an embassy to the Palestinian terrorists also pleases Bush, and it pleases him to have their embassy located in Jerusalem.
This fact is rarely mentioned, but perhaps it is one of the more telling and ominous indicators of the intentions of the US towards Israel.
Bush of course, did not locate those embassies nor establish the Palestinian embassy, nor preside over the railroading of Pollard. However, he has had the power for eight years to change the situation for each case and has not. Jones was only following orders.
