The Fourth Pillar Continues to Crumble

The Jerusalem Post reports today that the United States is “reviewing the feasibility of deploying a NATO force in the West Bank as a way to ease IDF security concerns and facilitate an Israeli withdrawal” from the area:

The plan, which is being spearheaded by US Special Envoy to the region Gen. James Jones, is being floated among European countries, which could be asked to contribute troops to a West Bank multinational force. . . .

Jones’s plan calls for stationing third-party troops in the West Bank to secure the area in the interim period following an Israeli withdrawal and before the Palestinian Authority can take over full security control.

On Tuesday, US Ambassador to Israel Richard Jones hinted at the possibility of deploying an international force for the period following a withdrawal and until the PA could ensure security in the West Bank.

Not so long ago (April 14, 2004 to be exact), George W. Bush assured Israel that the U.S. believed that “there will be no security for Israelis or Palestinians until they and all states, in the region and beyond, join together to fight terrorism and dismantle terrorist organizations” — and he made a specific promise regarding Israeli security: 

The United States reiterates its steadfast commitment to Israel’s security, including secure, defensible borders, and to preserve and strengthen Israel’s capability to deter and defend itself, by itself, against any threat or possible combination of threats.  [Emphasis added].

No one believes the 1967 borders are “secure and defensible,” or that Israel can “defend itself, by itself” by relying on “third-party troops,” particularly ones inserted into the region while the PA — which could not even defend itself in Gaza — works on its perennially about-to-begin efforts to “ensure security.”

So much for the vaunted “fourth pillar.”