The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Opinion | Silent Jerusalem: It is a pity that the government has not learned anything from what is happening in Kiev Israel today

2022-03-20T19:57:27.099Z


Lessons learned from the war: Ukraine surprised when it fought, refusing to be a part of the Western dinner menu with Russia • Jerusalem, which surrenders to the nuclear deal, loses the support of its friends


How important the fate of Ukraine really was to the Biden administration and the Europeans;

Did they really care about her independence and sovereignty?

Let's remember.

A few weeks before the Russian invasion, US President Joe Biden showed utter indifference to Ukraine.

German Chancellor Olaf Schultz, like Angela Merkel before him, was the unofficial spokesman for the Kremlin in Brussels.

Zalanski's speech to the Knesset // Photo: Knesset Channel

But then came the Russian invasion and the West's plans to migrate some crocodile tears went awry.

The Ukrainians did not act according to the role written for them in the script.

They did not surrender after a stubborn and hopeless struggle.

The Ukrainians united behind President Vladimir Zalansky and fought back a hair-raising war.

Zalansky for his part ruined the addictive game when he refused an American offer to vacate, saying "I do not want a ride. I want ammunition."

In this case, Zalansky is merely undermining Western plans to reach a Russian "peace" at the expense of Ukraine's independence.

Within the limits of aid

It is not that the progressive leaders in the West have turned their skin.

The agenda of the post-national West remains as it was.

While Poland absorbed 1.8 million of the three million Ukrainians who fled their homes, and Hungary absorbed another 270,000 - last week, by a huge majority, the European Parliament imposed sanctions on both of them for rejecting EU immigration policy and refusing to adopt the LGBT and transgender agenda Of Brussels.

In the US sector, even the inflated anger on Russia does not change the Biden administration's agenda in the international arena. Achieving a nuclear agreement with Iran while selling Israel and the Sunni states remains the administration's top target. Russia's trade with Iran from the sanctions imposed on it by Western countries means the cancellation of a large part of the sanctions.

The situation in Irpin, Photo: Reuters

The conduct of the Americans and the European establishment reveals the limits of aid they are willing to give to an attacked country like Ukraine, but also the ability of an isolated country to gain support that may be sufficient to enable it to survive against expectations.

After all, the aid that the United States and Europe still provide - weapons, humanitarian and political assistance - allows the Ukrainians to breathe and continue to fight. And the economic losses that Russia is suffering from the sanctions, it is very possible that the Russians would rather reach an agreement with Zalansky than fight to the end, and come to terms with an independent Ukraine.

Brother invasion, brother such invasion

The whole Ukrainian drama has a clear lesson for Israel.

But there is no sign that the government is paying attention to it.

Ukrainians can still hope for an independent future, because they have not agreed to bow to the West.

(They have also held up so far as an example of a heavy attack).

Already in the weeks leading up to the Russian invasion, Zalansky refused to accept dictates from Washington and acted as an independent actor.

If Israel were to learn something from what is happening in Kiev today, its policy in all arenas would be different.

Against Ukraine and Russia, Israel would have contented itself with two moves.

First, it would express opposition to the Russian invasion and support for Ukraine's right to self-determination.

And second, it would focus all its efforts on bringing the Jews of Ukraine to Israel.

She was not a mediator or joining any initiative.

Mediation means gaining legitimacy on both sides - the Russians who claim that Ukraine has no right to exist, and the Ukrainians who are trying to maintain their existence.

This act will probably come back to us like a boomerang.

How can Israel claim tomorrow that it is illegitimate to demand the end of the existence of the Jewish state and the transformation of Israel into a state of all its citizens, when Israel itself accepts as legitimate the claim that another nation state, fighting for its sovereignty, will cease to exist?

But dealing with Ukraine is also significant for Iran.

The Biden administration is now forced to support Ukraine even in the face of the danger of world war, because the Ukrainians are standing and fighting for the values ​​of independence and freedom - which the Americans were supposed to lead in the world.

If Israel had rejected the morality of the American moves in Vienna, which make Iran a nuclear threshold state on the one hand and a hegemonic power in the region on the other, it would have forced the administration to try to explain and justify its grave actions.

Israel's silence drops the ground beneath the feet of Israel's supporters in Congress and in the international arena.

Republicans, for example, need to explain why they are more opposed to the agreement than Israelis.

The Arabs, who are already opposed to the agreement much louder than Israel, look at the silent Jerusalem in disbelief.

And the strategic significance is already being felt.

Instead of working in cooperation with Jerusalem, the eyes of the Saudis and the emirates are focused on Moscow and Beijing.

Support for Israel is not mentioned

Last week, with the support of the AIPAC lobby, Biden signed a law that materially undermines Israel's status in the United States.

Until the passage of the law, which was an amendment to a law first enacted in 2012, the United States was obligated to support Israel in negotiating a two-state solution with the Palestinians. The new law deleted the mention of supporting Israel from the wording. Israel opposes and believes that this harms it.

A senator who approached the Israeli embassy in Washington told of a vague response.

"I do not think they are acting against the law," he told me.

Biden, Photo: AFP

This is not an initiative of the anti-Israel wing of the Democratic Party.

AIPAC advocated for a law passed with the support of key Republicans such as Senator James Rich, leader of the Republican minority on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Republican Jewish Senator Rob Portman. She not only strengthens her enemies, she loses her friends.

At the beginning of the war, quite a few Ukrainians said that Israel, which is fighting for its own even in the face of an indifferent and hostile world, is a source of inspiration for them.

Today, the situation seems to have reversed.

The Israeli government must learn the lesson of Ukraine.

The West will not fight for threatened democracies, and a country waiting for a green light from the West will not survive.

But a country that fights for itself will find a way to support, aid and survive.

Were we wrong?

Fixed!

If you found an error in the article, we'll be happy for you to share it with us

Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-03-20

You may like

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-28T06:04:53.137Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.