It is a fact that the U.S. subsidizes the state of Israel, which helps protect it against possible attack by its enemies. It is a fact that the U.S. has long done so, but in the process, has been seen as strongly slanted toward Israel throughout the Arab world. It is also a fact that Israel gets a great deal of moral and financial support by private donors, many of whom are based in the U.S. Given that these donors have demonstrated fairly deep pockets, perhaps now is the time for the U.S. to let these donors do what the U.S. taxpayers have long done, particularly given the fact that Israel continues to ignore U.S. demands for a halting of further settlements on Palestinian lands. Given the U.S.'s continued, formal support for Israel, in spite of this behavior, perhaps now is the time for a drastic shift.
We see this type of ignoring of demands by the U.S. in such examples as this.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected U.S. demands to stop plans to build 20 Jewish-owned apartments in the eastern part of the city that Palestinians regard as key to their future state.
The decision to allow new housing on land annexed by Israel after the 1967 war probably will further agitate relations with the Obama administration, which has been pressuring Netanyahu to halt the expansion of settlements in hopes of reviving the Middle East peace process and enticing Arab nations to normalize relations with the Jewish state.
For militant, right wing, land grabbing Israelis, the issue of a unified Jerusalem appears non-negotiable, even though, as others, such as the Israeli activist group Peace Now, point out "construction in East Jerusalem -- home to holy sites for Christians, Jews and Muslims -- is not supported by all Israelis" and "undermines the chances of the city becoming the joint capital of Israel and the future Palestinian state."
And yet, the U.S. has clearly demanded a halting of these settlements.
One main figure behind the current settlement activity is a multimillionaire real estate developer named Irving Moskowitz.
Here is a profile on him.
Irving Moskowitz is a Florida-based bingo and gambling magnate who uses proceeds from his businesses to fund right-wing pro-Israel organizations in the United States and radical Israeli settler groups. Moskowitz, a retired doctor and millionaire who originally built his wealth by buying and selling hospitals, also funds social service outfits in Hawaiian Gardens, California, a small, mostly Latino city just outside Los Angeles where Moskowitz's gambling business is located. A controversial figure both in the United States and Israel, Moskowitz's Hawaiian Gardens casino has been unsuccessfully sued by concerned citizens in the United States for alleged abuses committed against its workers (see the website of the Coalition for Justice in Hawaiian Gardens & Jerusalem, stopmoskowitz.org). In Israel, Moskowitz has been severely criticized for using his wealth to try to dictate government policy and making controversial land purchases in Palestinian enclaves in Jerusalem and the Occupied Territories.
Commenting on his influence, a Jewish news agency reported in a 1997 article entitled "Is Irving Moskowitz a Hero or Just a Rogue?": "An Israeli doctor working in a Manhattan hospital asked his colleague last week, 'Who's the prime minister of Israel?' 'This week, of course, it's Dr. Irving Moskowitz,' Joseph Frager told his questioner." At the time, Frager headed the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim, one of a number of U.S. groups that support taking over territory in Palestinian areas and rebuilding the temple where the Dome of the Rock is located. Frager was referring to a dispute between Moskowitz and then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a controversial home he had purchased in eastern Jerusalem and given to three Jewish families. Reported the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA): "After heated negotiations, Netanyahu convinced Moskowitz to kick the families out of the Arab neighborhood in eastern Jerusalem, on the Mount of Olives. Instead 10 yeshiva students will guard and maintain the property. For years Netanyahu supported Moskowitz's Jerusalem land purchases. The two have been close ever since Moskowitz was instrumental in opening a research institute named after Netanyahu's brother, Yonatan, who died during the famous Entebbe rescue in 1976."
Earlier in 1996, Moskowitz pressured Netanyahu to open a controversial tunnel next to the Temple Mount, which sparked several days of rioting in Palestinian areas, resulting in some 70 deaths. A plaque in the tunnel commemorates Moskowitz, who funded the tunnel's construction (ibid, JTA). In 2000, the Temple Mount tunnel provided the spark that set off the second intifada, the al-Aqsa uprising, when then-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visited the tunnel (Yehuda Litani, "Stop Temple Works," Ynetnews.com, February 8, 2007).
There is more here, and it is worth reading. However, the point is this. Why not let these rabid partisans take over in Israel, and let them fund whatever Israeli projects they want. But this then would remove the U.S. from involvement with Israel. Why not go in that direction, and let Israel work things out on its own, either on its own terms and/or on the terms set forth by its neighbors. Right now, Israel takes our money - thus far over 80 billion dollars - and then turns around and ignores our basic demands. It periodically spies on us and lies to us. It thus weakens us in the process. So, why do we need to continue with the status quo?