Former Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, said here Thursday that the United States has “abdicated its leadership role in the Middle East” and should increase it.
Babbitt told a meeting of the Foreign Policy Association that “the United States has more leverage than ever before” in the region because of Israel’s economic dependence on the United States and changes among Arab states.
He cited what he considered to be the declining regional influence of Syrian President Hafez al-Assad and the increasingly important roles played by Jordan and Egypt.
The candidate repeated calls made in previous campaign appearances for revitalization of the Camp David Accords as a way for the United States to bring about direct negotiations between Israel and individual Arab countries.
Babbitt called the present unrest in Israel’s administered territories “stark reminders that the region cannot lapse into the status quo” and said the United States should help in the “search for accommodation that reconciles Palestinian aspirations for self-government with Israel’s security needs.”
According to his campaign literature, he has supported autonomy for Palestinians, but not an independent Palestinian state.
Babbitt, governor of Arizona from 1978 to 1987, has described himself as supportive of a strong relationship between the United States and Israel, which he has referred to as “the central end of U.S. policy in the region.”
Babbitt said Thursday that he supports a general increase in foreign aid as “an investment in our security.”
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