Newsletter No. 717
Editorial-Opinion
August 22, 2007

 

EHUD HARARI ON TARO ASO’S PEACE MISSION

An interesting op-ed by Ehud Harari has appeared at the Israeli news site Y Net News. For those of you who don’t know, Harari is a very senior Israeli scholar who is now based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is Chairman of the Israel-Japan Friendship Society. He is also one of the very first scholars to begin examining Japan’s role in the Arab-Israeli Peace Process. Indeed, as early as January 1974 he published an article entitled “The Background and Prospects of Japan’s Middle East Diplomacy” in the Japanese-language magazine Gaiko Jiho. We should thus pay attention to his ideas as he is one of the more seasoned observers in this field.

Japan? No Big Deal
By Ehud Harari

At the conclusion of a three-day visit to Jordan, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority last week, Japan's Foreign Minister Aso Taro declared at a press conference that his visit was "the most constructive work during my tenure as foreign minister over the past year and ten months."

During the visit, media outlets in Japan offered extensive coverage of its objective -- expanding the Japanese initiative for advancing economic cooperation between Israel, Jordan and the PA. Japanese media also covered every meeting, impression, and declaration by the minister and his hosts, and of course, the highlight of the visit -- a four-way meeting in Jericho convened by the minister.

On the other hand, media outlets in Israel largely ignored both the visit and the Japanese initiative. The only few mentions were hidden within reports on projects envisioned and promoted by President Peres and ventures advanced by Foreign Minister Livni -- but nothing about Japan.

The minister's visit followed a declaration made by former Japanese Prime Minster Koizumi during his visit in Israel in July 2006 -- a declaration that was swallowed up by the sound of missiles landing in Israel. Koizumi announced the vision of a "peace and prosperity corridor" on both banks of the Jordan River and Japan's intention to contribute to its realization through generous funding, technical assistance, and the creation of frameworks for diplomatic contacts between Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinian Authority such as the Jericho meeting last Wednesday.

This followed other forms of Japanese aid, offered directly and through international organizations, to the tune of about $1 billion granted by the Japanese government to the Palestinian Authority since its inception -- to a large extent with the Israeli government's encouragement.

Japan also initiates and funds meetings of Israeli-Palestinian civil society organizations aimed at breaking the ice and achieving reconciliation.

We can view the Israeli media's attitude to Japanese Foreign Minister Aso's visit as an expression of a positive trend: Normalization in Japanese-Israeli relations. Up until a few years ago, the visit of a Japanese foreign minister would enjoy broad coverage here.

Late Blooming

There was "good" reason for this: It was only 40 years after the state's establishment that a Japanese foreign minister set foot in Israel, and even then it was a brief stop of a few hours. Since then, only three more visits by Japanese foreign ministers in Israel have taken place. The first visit by a Japanese prime minister took place in 1995; Koizumi's visit followed about ten years later.

The rare visits reflected Japan's policy of maintaining a low profile as much as was possible in its ties with Israel. Yet in recent years we are witnessing a late blooming of the ties between the two countries in different areas that has changed the face of the relationship. It is natural for normal ties to include mutual visits by ministers and prime ministers. So Japan's prime minister came for a visit; big deal.

This is a mistake. Indeed, the change for the better in Japan's policy did not start yesterday: It is a trend with ups and downs that followed the Madrid Conference and Oslo Accords. Yet the "peace and prosperity corridor" has a new dimension: Until now, massive Japanese aid was exclusively directed at the Palestinians; this time, aid is also directly offered to Israel.

This change for the better may not stem solely from a Japanese love for Israel. The benefits inherent in economic and trade relations are mutual. Calm in the Middle East is a clear Japanese interest, and Japan maintains a global political agenda beyond the Middle East, including its desire for a permanent seat in the UN Security Council that may be advanced by diplomatic achievements in the Mideast.

However, good ties must be maintained and nurtured. Israelis and Japanese can learn from each other. We, for example, can learn from the Japanese to properly recognize a positive deed, even when the benefit is mutual.

The writer is a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and the chairman of the Israel-Japan Friendship Society