The American-Israeli Tension: Deep or Superficial?
Prof. As’ad Abdul Rahman
Last week, many Israeli top politicians declared that the rapid deterioration of the relationship between US President Barak Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has negatively affected the strong and historical relations between the Zionist state (Israel) and USA, especially in regards to ” how Iran’s nuclear drive should be curbed and checked.” Those politicians blame Netanyahu for that deterioration. In addition to this issue, the United States and Israel are at odds on ways to end the Palestinian/Israeli conflict in a just and peaceful manner. The American Administration has become certain that the right-wing religious parties ruling Israel now, not only represent dire danger to the survival of Israel, but also a direct threat to the American national security and that of the West in general. The Israeli right-wing, driven by Talmudist racism and Zionist colonialism, has effectively snuffed the two-state solution upon which the whole Western World has now based its Middle Eastern policy.
The Israeli right-wing and extreme right-wing coalition are now very concerned of the possibility of Washington lifting its protective hand of Israel in the United Nations, especially in the International Court of Justice that would be looking in the near future into Israeli violations of international law. Another concern is the current American military budget constraints that would negatively affect a future increase of military aid to Israel.
Many political observers in Israel view the current strained relations as the worst since the establishment of the Zionist state. American Jewish observers (and others) agree with this view foreseeing that the effect of such tensions would make the European Union (EU) free to confront Israel on all fronts, politically, economically and culturally, without expecting serious opposition from the American Administration. The EU views the steady Judaization of the Palestinian West Bank as a catastrophe in the making which will unleash takfiri fundamentalists (those who accuse others of apostasy) who falsely claim Islam as their creed, wreaking havoc across Europe and the United States extracting revenge from the Western world for its support of the Zionist state.
In warning notes, Jeremy Ben Ami, president of “J Street”, the lobby of America’s Reform Jews who discarded the Talmud from their religious services and who strongly oppose the religious right-wing ruling Israel now, has said that ” what the Prime Minister of Israel is doing now is something that is extremely shameful and very disgraceful and will negatively affect the Israeli/American relation for a very long time.” Another prominent American Jew, Aron Miller, who served in the Republican and Democratic Administrations in his capacity as an expert in Middle Eastern issues reminded Tel Aviv not to forget that “America has other friends in the Middle East besides Israel.” Israeli writer Ben Kesbit said that “Israeli leaders who differed in the past with American leaders made history by their actions not by their words only. David Ben Gurion announced the independence of the state of Israel contrary to American view that wanted more time. Levy Ashkol started the 1967 war when America opposed it and Begin attacked and destroyed the Iraqi nuclear reactor when President Reagan was against such an act.” He concluded his article asking: “What did Netanyahu do of any historical importance in this case? He did nothing except speak empty words and when real actions are needed to eradicate threats putting Israel’s survival on the line; Netanyahu disappears and instantly dissolves into a small insignificant puddle of liquid.”
Despite our belief that the strained relationship between Obama and Netanyahu would not in the short term affect the strategic military alliance between Israel and the United States, yet, that does not rule out the possibility of further deterioration as a result of the rogue policies enacted by the ruling colonial, ultra-religious and ultra-nationalist right wing parties within the Zionist state.
The Palestinians has always from the start maintained that Israel is an apartheid/racist and takfiri religious state that can never accept any solution except the complete Judaization of the West Bank. Israeli leaders never failed or attempted over the years to change such a firm belief. On June 25th, 1982, Israeli prime minister at the time, Menachem Begin said in the New Statesman, that “the Palestinians are beasts walking on two legs,” in reference to the racist Talmud’s description of non-Jews. A predecessor, David Ben-Gurion from “A Biography” by Michael Ben Zohar published in New York in 1978, addressing the General Staff, said: “We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation to get rid of the Arab population.”
In the years that followed, more proof came on the Zionism aims and plots, some from Israelis themselves. . Michael Ben-Yair, the Attorney General of Israel in 1993-1996, wrote in Ha’aretz that “the Intifada is the Palestinian’s people war of liberation. We (Israel) enthusiastically chose to become a colonialist society, ignoring international treaties, expropriating lands, transferring settlers from Israel to the occupied territories, engaging in theft and funding justification for all these activities…We established an apartheid state.”
It sounds fit within this context to quote Israeli pundit Shmuel Rosner who said:” It is assumed that we have to wait for two more hard years till President Obama finishes his term, but my American conversant asked me: Why only two years? And who assured Israel and whispered in Netanyahu’s ear that next American President is going to be more loving and understanding towards Israel while Netanyahu continues on his path of sabotaging the peace process?”
