David M. Weinberg
Jerusalem Post, May 24, 2023
“The delay in weapons supply to Israel on days two through six of the war cannot be attributed to Kissinger, but rather to then-defense secretary James Schlesinger, along with unfriendly European leaders who refused stopover landing rights for planes carrying supplies for Israel.”
Even as he turns 100 years old this weekend, Dr. Henry Kissinger is relevant and worth listening to. World leaders continue to consult with him, and he pumps out sage book after prescient opinion column. His record regarding Jews and Israel remains controversial, but I think that on balance Kissinger deserves respect.
Arriving in the US in 1938 as a 15-year-old Jewish refugee from Nazi Germany, Kissinger rose to become the most consequential figure in US foreign policy of the past century, serving as national security advisor and secretary of state to presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.
He crafted the policy of détente toward the Soviet Union, led diplomatic rapprochement with China, helped bring an end to the Vietnam war (for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize alongside Le Duc Tho of North Vietnam), and broached the beginnings of Arab-Israel peace after the Yom Kippur War.
His erudite books are staples for those who study statecraft, beginning with A World Restored (about the Congress of Vienna that ended the Napoleonic wars); through his three-volume memoir of government service; to the more recent books, Diplomacy, World Order, Crisis, On China and Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy.
All this has kept him at the forefront of international affairs discourse, and global leaders still beat a path to his New York office. In these interactions, Kissinger promotes a realpolitik strategic outlook.
For example, during the past year he has expressed concern about too-severe Western sanctions that could lead to the breakup of Russia – which would be a global security nightmare given its nuclear weapons. Kissinger has suggested that even though Russian President Vladimir Putin certainly does not deserve to be placated with ill-gotten territory, the war in Ukraine could best be ended by “a balance of dissatisfaction” whereby Russia retains Sevastopol and Ukraine joins NATO.
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