美国国家公共电台 NPR--U.S. view on Israel: Could Blinken's visit temporarily cool down tensions?

U.S. view on Israel: Could Blinken's visit temporarily cool down tensions?

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep speaks with former Middle East envoy² Dennis Ross about the visit to Israel by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Ambassador Dennis Ross has been tracking the latest Mideast violence. He's been a Middle East envoy for the administrations of President George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton, has followed these matters for a long time. Ambassador, welcome back.

DENNIS ROSS: Nice to be with you.

INSKEEP: What are the dangers of this moment?

ROSS: Well, I think the biggest danger is this just spins out of control, and we move into what might be the Third Intifada. If you recall, the Second Intifada was extremely violent, went on for four years. Over a thousand Israelis were killed, and close to 35- or 3,600 Palestinians were killed. And in a sense, you just saw the territories and Israel itself become places where violence was the norm and normalcy was the exception.

INSKEEP: Well, I'm thinking about the response of Israel's government to this synagogue shooting on Friday. Authorities are preparing to smash the suspect's home, which is a thing that is done there sometimes. Netanyahu's government is talking of bills to make it easier for employers to fire Palestinians, easier to strip Palestinians of their citizenship³. What do you think Netanyahu is driving at here?

ROSS: I think he's trying to demonstrate that he's doing something that's tough to satisfy, especially those within the right wing, the far-right wing of his government, those that in many ways wanted much more difficult, much harsher policies. They want to build new settlements. They want to build in an area called E1. This is an area that, strategically, could separate the northern part of the West Bank from the southern part of the West Bank. It's been an issue going back to the time when I was our envoy that we would raise with the Israelis and say this is an area that precludes⁴ any possible two-state outcome later on.

So I think he's trying to forestall⁵ the kinds of actions that he's being pressed to take and, at the same time, show he's acting⁶ in a way that will deter⁷ further violence or reduce the incentives⁸ for violence from the Palestinians. The problem in a case like this is steps he takes to try to create deterrence⁹ sometimes end up creating pressures on the Palestinians even to show that they can carry out more revenge attacks. And the real danger here is revenge attacks on both sides.

INSKEEP: You know, in the United States, we would see a mass shooting like this terrible shooting at the synagogue - we would normally see it as the act of an individual. There may be a political context. There's likely a political aspect to it in terms of laws and so forth¹⁰. But we see it broadly as an individual. How is it different in Israel given the wider conflict there?

ROSS: Well, I think you got an indication of that, even by what Daniel Estrin was reporting, how there were celebrations throughout the West Bank in response to the killing¹¹ of the seven coming out of the synagogue and how the 13-year-old who - the next morning - 13-year-old Palestinian, the next morning, who shot two Israelis, was called a hero by his friend. The creation of a sense of martyrdom suggests that this is all about the struggle and resistance. And unfortunately, that's the culture right now. And the more the Israelis see it, the more they feel there's no alternative except to put more pressure on the Palestinians.

So in a sense, you have the secretary of state coming out there, not to make peace but to try to calm the situation down. I think the one thing he might try to do - we have a U.S. security coordinator¹², a three-star general, and he might seek to have him bring the security forces of both sides together to see what each of them might do in parallel to try to bring this - not so much to end it because it's going to be very hard, but at least try to bring things under control.

INSKEEP: In a few seconds, do you think these two governments are on the same page, at least at this moment, regarding Iran?

ROSS: I think they're getting very close to being on the same page, principally because what Iran is doing to its own public and because Iran is providing weapons to the Russians. That puts the U.S. closer to the Israelis, I think, than they've been.

INSKEEP: Meaning that - favoring confrontation¹³ with Iran and putting on a back burner any resumption of a nuclear deal.

ROSS: I don't think they have much of a choice because the Iranians aren't showing much interest in such a deal.

INSKEEP: Ambassador, it's always a pleasure talking with you. Thank you so much.

ROSS: My pleasure.

INSKEEP: Former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross. He's at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

3 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

4 precludes   

v.阻止( preclude的第三人称单数 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通

参考例句：

• Lack of time precludes any further discussion. 由于时间不足，不可能进行深入的讨论。
• The surface reactivity of many nonblack fillers generally precludes strong bonding with this type of matrix. 许多非碳黑填料的表面反应性一般阻碍与该种基质形成牢固的粘结。 来自辞典例句

5 forestall   

vt.抢在…之前采取行动；预先阻止

参考例句：

• I left the room to forestall involvements.我抢先离开了这房间以免受牵累。
• He followed this rule in order to forestall rumors.他遵守这条规矩是为了杜绝流言蜚语。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

8 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

13 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。