Right Move On Durban II

by The Editors

The Barack Obama administration took a dramatically different position on the upcoming Durban II conference on racism than its predecessor — but in the end, it did the right thing. And it did it in a way that could give Washington new clout in the struggle against pervasive anti-Israel bias in the international arena and credibility in the effort to thwart Iran’s nuclear ambitions.

Some Jewish leaders were alarmed last month when the White House announced it was sending a delegation to preliminary talks for the April conference, a follow-up to a 2001 Durban conference that became a disgraceful milestone in the annals of UN bias against the Jewish state.

The reaction ranged from genuine concern that the administration was dangerously naïve in its hope

it could prevent Durban II from becoming yet another forum for high-minded Israel-bashing and outright anti-Semitism, to overacted outrage from groups that have insisted from the outset that Obama harbors animosity to the Jewish state and have pounced on every pronouncement, every rumor as proof.

There was also an element of sheer partisanship in the reaction. Jewish Republicans seemed to regard the decision to attend the preliminary talks as a political gift.

But Obama confounded the critics. When administration efforts to change the tone and content of the upcoming conference failed, the White House announced the United States was pulling out. In trying diplomacy first and then, after it failed, boycotting the conference, the administration sent a clear and powerful signal to U.S. allies and set a new diplomatic paradigm that may play out in other critical foreign policy areas, starting with Iran.

While some pro-Israel leaders fear the administration’s search for diplomatic openings with Tehran will lead to appeasement, the Durban II experience suggests officials here will probe cautiously and responsibly, and not shrink from confrontation if those efforts fail.

If that is indeed the case, such tactics may add new force to U.S. leadership on the Iran issue and help restore this country’s credibility on the world stage — a change that can only benefit Israel.

There’s nothing frightening about giving diplomacy a chance as long as we don’t lose sight of our basic principles. That strikes us as the kind of balanced policy that has been in short supply in recent years.