Many Israeli supporters in US are not happy with Obama's Middle-East policy. They are questioning our trustworthiness and friendship. It is time to revisit our entire relationship and support.
There has been a lot of grumbling by Israeli supporters about Obama’s Middle-East policy. Some of those have been questioning whether Israel can trust United States anymore. However, we should be asking questions to ourselves. The question we, Americans, should ask is, has Israel been a good friend of United States? We should ask ourselves why Israel should be special to us, what the cost of the relationship is, and what concrete benefit Israel provides us.
There are three main reasons Israeli supporters give to show why Israel is important to us. Here is some candid, albeit generalized and short, response to them.
Israel is a courageous and trustworthy democratic ally.
Let us face it; there are many countries in the world that would fit this description. Do we treat them same as Israel? Based on how much economically and militarily we have done for Israel the obvious answer is no. We have done a lot for many countries, but just for a specific purpose, not a vague notion about culture, history, and usefulness. How has Israel, the reliable ally and friend, returned the favor? Have they ever done anything for us that did not help them? Are they willing to stop the West Bank settlements because their great friend and benefactor United States would like them to do it? Their need for defense and survival is understandable, but we shouldn’t bear heavy cost for it.
We have similar interests.
Whether we like it or not, we need oil, so becoming friendly with Arab countries is good for us. There is nothing inherently wrong with it. Yes, they are not good guys, but so are many of our friends and allies around the world. If we believe that part of the reason for terrorism against United States is our inextricable relationship with Israel, we should be free to revisit our policies. That is not breach of trust, it is being smart.
Our common cultures and Judeo-Christian values make our relationship special.
But why it has to be special? Yes, theses factors may give us sense of kinship, just as we have it with many nations of the world. But, that is not a sufficient reason to make our foreign policy devoid of self interest.
Israel wants our trust and friendship just for their benefit. It is high time we look at the entire relationship for our rational self interest. We should have a real public discussion on cost-benefit of our Israeli policy. We should look beyond special relationship, common values, democratic ally, etc. and do what is best for us. Israel is like a selfish and spoiled child of America. If Israelis don’t trust Americans after all we have done for them, it is only their fault. Is that what United States deserves from Israel?