Clinton’s Balancing Act

Secretary Clinton and Benjamin Netanyahu

While Secretary Clinton was in Israel back in March, one story you probably didn’t hear too much about was how Hillary was put in an exceedingly awkward position by President Netanyahu, raising security concerns:

“Sources tell Foreign Policy that when Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met with Netanyahu at the King David Hotel earlier this month, such was the concern that a certain former Mossad analyst who now serves as Netanyahu’s security advisor may pose a counterintelligence problem that, after conferring with an aide, Clinton suggested to Netanyahu that they reduce the number of people in the room.

The former analyst, Uzi Arad, has recently headed an Israeli think tank that convenes the influential annual Herzliya strategy dialogue. Arad has been unable to get a U.S. visa for the past two years, he has suggested, because he was identified in a 2005 indictment (though not by name) as one of the Israelis who met with then-Pentagon Iran specialist Larry Franklin. Franklin pled guilty in 2005 on charges related to unauthorized disclosure of national-security information to people not authorized to receive it, including officials with the Israeli government.

Clinton’s suggestion was made, sources say, in the hopes that Netanyahu would get the message and excuse Arad from the meeting. What happened instead, sources report, was that Netanyahu dismissed from the meeting Israeli ambassador to Washington Sallai Meridor, who has since announced his resignation. (An account of the meeting previously published on ForeignPolicy.com revealed that Clinton seemed remarkably constrained and tight-lipped during it.)”

In addition, while Uzi Arad has been denied a Visa by the Dept. of State for the last two years, Arad himself has said he believes that should he wish to enter the US in his official capacity as Netanyahu’s security adviser, he will have no problem obtaining a Visa from the State Department.  The question is, is he presuming too much?