US-Israel: On the Verge of Historic Change?

Rami Khouri, writing in Middle East Online, outlines four reasons why we may be seeing an unprecedented shift in Washington's relationship with Israel:

The important relationship between the United States and Israel is evolving in unpredictable ways. Their recent tensions are important for what they reveal about a more sophisticated and integrated American view of its Middle East policies, one which balances a firm commitment to Israel’s security against the problems Washington suffers from its excessive pro-Israel tilt and continued Zionist colonialism in occupied Arab lands.

Israel-US Analysis: After Washington, What Will Netanyahu Do?

The most significant recent development is the qualitative rather than merely the procedural nature of Washington’s criticisms of Israel. This is reflected in two ways.



First, top American officials repeatedly and publicly accuse Israel of insulting the United States and hindering its foreign policy objectives in the Arab-Asian region. Israel has shifted from being merely the actor that carries out actions that are “unhelpful” to peace-making, to the actor whose policies hurt American strategic interests. This is the diplomatic equivalent of playing hardball.

Israeli policies have transcended personal affront or embarrassment to American officials and are causing the United States real pain beyond the Arab-Israeli arena. This is something new, and therefore the US is reacting with unusually strong, public and repeated criticisms of Israel’s settlement policies and its general peace-negotiating posture. At the same time Washington repeats it ironclad commitment to Israel’s basic security in its 1967 borders, suggesting that the US is finally clarifying that its support for Israel does not include unconditional support for Israel’s colonization policies.

Second, the American military has openly criticized Israel, saying (as Centcom commander David Petraeus told Congress last week) that Israeli policies and the regional perceptions of Washington’s pro-Israel bias make it difficult for the United States to achieve its foreign policy goals through military or diplomatic activity. The top military leadership speaking out in public with such clarity is about as serious as it gets in terms of credible criticisms in Washington.

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Comments

[Dave]

The reason Israel is important to the US and Europe is because it is the vanguard. If the West loses the vanguard, the Islamists will have a new-found confidence that will embolden them to launch more attacks in Europe. Bosnia is already being eyed as a springboard for this.

Swiss politician, Oskar Freysinger, has a clear understanding of it:

“We are well aware that if Israel disappears we lose a vanguard. They [the Israelis] are fighting our fight, in fact. As long as the Muslims are concentrated on Israel, it’s not so hard for us. But as soon as Israel will have disappeared, they will come to get the other part” – namely, Europe.

I think the Obama administration's foreign policy imperatives at work in the Middle East will be the greatest foreign policy miscalculation since the 1938 Munich Pact.

[Rudolf]

Obama's policy toward Israel is twofold. If he will succeed in crushing Israel then the next step is to suppress the resistance of American people to his plans of establishing National Socialism regime in our country and as a final goal his dictatorship.

[parvati_roma]

I find the delusional fanaticism of the above two posters very eloquent - no wonder their love-boat has ended up colliding head-on with its supply-ship! Same goes for their "dear leader" aka Israel's current head of state : Uri Avnery's take on Netanyahu is worth reading.
http://dissidentvoice.org/2010/03/on-the-road-to-canossa/

[Catherine]

Parvati-Roma,
Thanks for that excellent article by Uri Avnery. This now pales a bit in comparison, but it continues the discussion topic. In this episode of the Riz Khan show Martin Indyk, two-time former US ambassador to Israel, Rami Khouri, editor of the Beirut-based newspaper Daily Star (+ author of the article above), and Avi Issacharoff, the Arab affairs reporter for Israeli daily Haaretz, discuss the recent tensions in the US-Israeli relationship and other Middle East developments.
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/rizkhan/2010/03/20103228244092965.html

[Publicola]

Europe 1945-1949; Near East 1967-2010: Generosity versus „eye for an eye“ or four years versus forty years:

Europe and the Near East – two wars, two models, two options

GENEROSITY AND FORGIVENESS ON THE PART OF THE VICTORIOUS PARTY:

Due to the undeservedly generous attitude and incomprehensibly forgiving behavior of the victorious party (the Allied Powers / World War II) and the logically resulting peaceful behavior of the defeated party (Germany / World War II). Today Germany and Europe as a region live on an island of peace and prosperity.
“Hereditary” enemies before 1945 have become closest friends.
The European dream, Europe, the European Union has become reality.

- Germany as a middle power, utterly defeated in 1945, and the Germans as citizens remained - differently than after World War I - peaceful,
because - differently than after that World War I – Germany was not humiliated by the winners,
but in 1949, i.e. 4 (four!) years after its defeat, Germany was restructured as a state and supported economically, because not degraded, but as Germans - inspite of what they had done - respected again -

LEX TALIONIS – “EYE FOR AN EYE” - ON THE PART OF THE VICTORIOUS PARTY:

Due to the attitude and behavior of the victorious party (Israel / Six-Day-War - obviously adhering to the Lex Talionis (“eye for an eye”) - and somehow also due to resulting attitudes and behavior of the defeated party (Palestine and Syria).
Today the Near East as a region lives on a terrain of depletion, impoverishment, death, destruction.
Enemies have remained enemies, more so than before.
To realistically think of an economic-political loose association would be cervantesque and quixotic.
Instead of that a smouldering, burning focus of poisonous political and social disasters has become reality, emitting and radiating slowly intensifying and rapidly globalizing terrorisms.

- About 40 (forty!) years after the Six-Day-War 1967 the Arab side is still constantly in the process of incessant rebellion,
because - amongst other things - they are forced to feel to be constantly made fool of by the victorious party, Israel, to be constantly disrespected and humiliated -

The Obama About-Face - My guess:

Some US- and European politicians seem to have noticed

a) that the short time-span of ca. 4 years between the end of World War II and the new, peaceful start of all European participants, be they guilty be they victims on the one hand
might be compared to
the long time-span of the ca. 40 years having passed between the end of the 1967 war and now

b) that this obivously never-ending Israel-Palestine conflict is a time-bomb, becoming more and more dangerous not only to the US, but also to Europe,
turning out to be absolutely against their nation's long-term interest

c) that it is very stressful, expensive and hazardous to be the hostage of Israeli foreign policies,
as no dog probably will like it very much,
if it is the tail that wags the dog

[yxkqav yxkqav]

Don't know what is wrong what is rite but i know that every one has there own point of view and same goes to this one bslvtr bslvtr - yves saint laurent sandales.