David Cameron’s sojourn to Israel and the Palestinian territories is seen as another attempt to revive the long-struggling peace process before the 29 April deadline to reach a final status agreement.

He came on a less than a 24-hour visit, accompanied by a delegation of 17 members and five conservative party deputies to emphasise to the Israeli government and Knesset there is much to be gained from reaching final status and establishing a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians based on the 1967 borders.

Indeed he sees this as a valuable opportunity to open up the region with Israel benefitting much from its access to the rest of the Arab world. Peace between Israel and the Palestinians would be a pedestal to prosperity and cooperation with the rest of the Arab countries.

He came not to lecture and/or berate as many have suggested and certainly not in line with previous world leaders when they quietly nudged the Israelis to push full throttle ahead despite their unwillingness and irking them whilst becoming more stringent and divisive.

Cameron made it known that he had not came to regurgitate worn out slogans and phrases but he wanted to put forward what he termed as his imaginary views that were striking in their candour and approach, spelling out ideas and views that have always been there but were now put in a bigger context of going forward.

He spoke “of the immense possibilities of having two states”, “of the different aspects of life that would change”, “of Israel’s relationship with the world,” “of mutual recognition, of an “Arab world where Israelis could travel to” and the “dignity for the Jewish people and yes, dignity for the Palestinian people too,” he stressed.

It is no surprise his imaginary scenarios got a long-standing ovation afterwards from many Knesset members who were not prepared for this nor had they expected any of it. Clearly the Britons had come prepared and did their home work. As evident from the prime minister’s speech, the British delegation were bringing with them lots of imaginations.

Indeed it could be argued that what he said must be seen on the need for peace as summation of his visit that he come forward as one to deliver a ‘strong” message to the Israelis and then almost immediately get out of the picture, for indeed he and his entourage had came to the region for what seemed like a nightly stopover.

Whilst between making his arguments for the “dividends of peace”, he dwelled in admiration on Jewish culture and Israeli economic advancement, particularly in the high-tech fields. He said the greater dividends will be with world powers and will grow strongly with Britain as is already the case, having an earmarked balance of trade of $5 billion per year.

It was indeed music to the ears of those who were listening as he talked about his great, great Jewish grandfather and the fact that one of his ancestors wrote the first novel in Yiddish. If before his speech he was something of an unknown for Israel politicians who knew little of him - unlike his predecessor Tony Blair, the Quartet representative who came to the region 114 times since 2007 - Cameron, was now definitely their friend and maybe a partner.

And of course he couldn’t but not be their pal after he spoke about the fact that he has grown “to appreciate the extraordinary contribution of the Jewish people to my country and to the world”, his “personal commitment to Israel” or when he said “...with me you have a British prime minister whose belief in Israel is unbreakable and whose commitment to Israel will always be rock solid”, or when he said “...delegitimising the state of Israel is wrong, its abhorrent. And together we will defeat it.”

All these may have given the “right” and the “wrong” signals to the people they were directed to. A shot in the foot would be a milder way of commenting on what he said with many arguing that instead of jolting the sleepy peace process, it’s actually ensuring its continued state of slumber because of what Israel’s believes to be the rising potential dangers around it in the form of Hamas, Hezbollah and a host of other countries.

While the Cameron speech may have been considered as a balancing act -appealing to both the Israeli and West Bank leaderships- it may have at the same time undermined the objective of helping the peace process to take off because of his reference to the “poisonous ideology of Islamic extremism”, Iran and the nuclear threat posed by that country and the need to counter it as well as the growing elements of terrorism around the world.

Is this what Netanyahu and the Israeli government were really looking for, a sort of green light for more pussy-footing on the beleaguered peace process under the blanket term of protecting Israeli security or the fact that the Jewish state can continue to drag its feet with its friends in the West actually supporting them.

But there was sincerity in the British visit. A lot of people want the peace process concluded. After the Knesset visit Cameron went on to meet Palestinian President Mahmood Abbas, no doubt to balance the equation despite the fact it is the Palestinians that have borne the brunt.

He spent less time with them than with the Israelis but nevertheless it was congenial. There was a touch of warmth as well when Cameron went to the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem and met with Abbas where he pledged support to help Palestinian businesses and the economy.

Finally however, it must be said that the visit was about rubbing shoulders with both the Israelis and somewhat the Palestinians to encourage them to go for full solutions to taste the long awaited fruits of peace.

 

Marwan Asmar is a commentator based in Amman. He has long worked in journalism and has a Phd in Political Science from Leeds University in the UK. You can follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Asmar1959