Matt Yglesias

What a Mideast Envoy Needs

Steve Clemons suggests Dennis Ross would make a good ambassador to Israel, in part to ensure that if a Middle East peace envoy is appointed it’s someone prepared to take a more balanced approach. He suggests “Colin Powell, Chuck Hagel, Richard Lugar, or even Richard Armitage” as “smart and interesting choices” for those roles. I agree on all those scores, but I will say that with a sensitive subject like this it’s important to not just pick people who are good, but people who have the confidence of the president. The Bush administration’s approach to the peace process has been terrible, but Bush’s Middle East envoys have been pretty good. There’s nothing wrong with Tony Zinni or Jim Jones. But they didn’t have the right kind of authority or mandate.

What a Middle East envoy needs is to be someone who’s taken seriously by the leaders in the region and by the principles back in Washington. That’s not primarily an issue who gets appointed — though appointing someone of stature helps — but of what the president says and does. Not just publicly, but privately in the White House’s and State Department’s communications with the governments in the region. Israel’s Prime Minister will be able to tell whether or not she has better access to decision-makers in DC than the envoy does.