Nathan Guttman in the Forward
“Jones also raised concern during this mission, when he argued against having Israel keep full security responsibility for the West Bank after an agreement is reached. Jones proposed that an interim international force led by NATO would take over until Palestinian forces are prepared to maintain security. “The proposal was not made in writing and did not become part of the American policy in the region. Israeli and Palestinian officials confirmed that Jones raised the proposal in his talks with Israelis. ‘The idea wasn’t to give over all security issues to NATO, but rather to reassure Israelis that their security concerns would be taken care of even after withdrawal,’ said an Israeli official who was briefed on Jones’s work. Still, Israelis saw the proposal as a warning signal and turned it down immediately. Traditionally, Israel’s security establishment has opposed placement of foreign troops in the region, worried about their impartiality and effectiveness. Israelis are also concerned that increased involvement of foreign players, other than Americans, in the Israeli–Arab conflict will tilt the balance in favor of the Arab side. For this reason, Israel insisted that the multinational peacekeeping force in Sinai will be under American command. Israel reluctantly accepted the presence of UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon and of a small international monitoring group in Hebron.According to Israeli officials, Jones did not insist on pursuing the idea of putting international forces on the ground. ‘It is my understanding that once the Israeli view on this was made clear, it was taken off the table,’ the official said.”
