Say - where has our spinal column gone? Don't we have a little self-respect left? What is the meaning of this dependent amok run after an Oval Office meeting with President Biden? Not only has the American president lost this in relation to us, Netanyahu and those around him are also despised. Perhaps it would be better for him to announce already that he is giving up this dubious honor, to be received by the president as a humiliated guest courting the openings after the public shaming they did to him and his government there.
Biden is now working against Netanyahu in a divide-and-rule system, and doesn't even bother to hide it. The administration in Washington is trying to drive a wedge between the prime minister and the citizens of Israel. I want to say: Netanyahu and his government are one thing, the State of Israel is another. We will continue to "love and vouch" for Israel, and we will welcome your president with the honor of kings; We will continue to discredit and discredit your elected Prime Minister.
This separation, the president of the world's largest democratic power surely knows, is a privilege reserved once every four years only for Israeli citizens. Only they will decide, in democratic elections, as Americans like, if and when Netanyahu's days are over. Meanwhile, voters here, just seven months ago, decided otherwise. So let Biden, with all due respect, occupy himself with other allies of the United States where democracy has really gone off the rails, or never gone above them in the first place, such as Turkey or Egypt.
What did the president's froth come out of, and what do we do with it? Even before his anger over the continuation of minor judicial reform legislation, Biden was furious at the "settlements" construction that "extremists promote," an old obsession of his.
One option, which Netanyahu is adept at, is to continue what he is doing now; Sell Americans one story – about slowing down and reducing construction, when the exact opposite story is happening on the ground and construction is expanding. This way is disrespectful and disrespectful. American anger stems from it, too, and not just from the substantive controversy.
Blessed to have been caught on...
The second option is to follow in the ancient footsteps of Pappus ben Yehuda some 1,900 years ago, who met Rabbi Akiva after he was bandaged in the prison and said to him: "I will be blessed that you were caught on the words of the Torah." Netanyahu should try that too. Many before him used "Blessed be I caught on...", when they received cold showers from friends or haters. They believed they had "sinned" and acted right; That it is honorable to be "kidnapped" and punished for it.
Netanyahu will be able to say, first to himself, then to the people of Israel, and finally to Biden – in that order – that I am blessed to have been caught on the building of the Land of Israel. I am blessed to have been caught promoting the return to Zion and building and establishing settlements in the heart of the ancient homeland, which we do not occupy. Once, many years ago, this was the terminology, even of the prime minister, but for many years it has not. Netanyahu will be held in high esteem many times more than the disgrace that the pursuit of the president now entails, especially since the price that the Americans demand for such a meeting is high and contrary to the interests of the State of Israel.
The time has come for Israel to carry out a "reassessment" as well, in the form of organized staff work and examining additional alternatives to aid from the United States. It is wrong to put all our eggs in one basket
And there is another small matter that requires clarification in the face of American anger, but mainly in the face of ourselves: Biden and his high commissioner here, the arrogant Ambassador Nides, who acted here with patronage and outrageous mastery, decided to take a stand in dispute over the reform, which is tearing Israeli society apart today. They allow themselves to intervene crudely in a distinctly internal Israeli matter, mainly because opponents of the reform asked them to intervene and "save Israel from itself." Perhaps the time has come, adjusting style, time and place, to return to the words Menachem Begin hurled at U.S. Ambassador to Israel Sam Lewis in 1981, following the American protests and sanctions against the Golan Heights Law: "Israel is not an entity of enslaved vassals or a banana republic of the United States."
Sometimes even words, even harsh ones, plant strength. The sky didn't fall then, and it probably won't fall now. Disagreements with a friend and superpower such as the United States, on which Israel depends, are not pleasant, but things have never happened before: after the Golan Law, and the bombing of the reactor in Iraq, and construction in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria. There were also "reassessments" and "sanctions" and harsh words, and even the suspension of budgets and a symbolic delay in the shipment of planes, but on one thing that is the core of our relations with the United States, the Americans have always been careful not to break the tools – military aid to Israel and security and intelligence cooperation with it.
When France was our U.S.
While it is true that the United States can do without Israel, it is much more difficult for Israel to do without the United States. However, for years, Israel has been a laboratory for many defense developments in real combat conditions, in which planes, tanks, missiles and other munitions are tested. Yoram Ettinger, who was in contact with the heads of the US Aerospace Industries while serving as a delegate at the Israeli embassy in Washington, once heard from the Americans that no less than 700 upgrades had been added to the F-16 as a result of Israeli advice and experience.
When this profit was quantified into dollars and time, it was found to be savings of billions of dollars and between ten and 20 years of research. Take this story, apply it to hundreds of other weapons items, and you will understand why security cooperation is also dear to the heart of the United States, and that's before we even talk about the many fruits in the field of intelligence that the United States of Biden and his predecessors derives from Israel.
Despite this, it is not always possible to say no to the United States, but sometimes it is possible and necessary. Examples here and there exist abundantly. Israel should try hard to maintain its special relationship with the United States, but not at any price. The construction of the Dimona nuclear complex, for example, as well as the annexation of Jerusalem and the annexation of the Golan Heights and the destruction of the Iraqi reactor were all done contrary to the position of the United States.
Apparently, the time has come for Israel to undergo a "reassessment" as well, in the form of organized staff work and examination of other alternatives to American aid, whether through its own production of weapons, or by turning to other markets around the world, even those of lower quality. The umbrella of U.S. defense of Israel in the international arena should also be expanded with other addresses.
Many have forgotten: Until 1967, Israel's "America" was France. The advanced weapons and military aid came from it. America was hardly in the picture, but then, on one unclear day in 1967, French President de Gaulle announced a total embargo on arms shipments to us, and Israel and the United States discovered each other.
Even today, we may discover that Israel is not widowed, and that there is life outside the United States as well. We do not have to give up American aid on our own initiative. It would be stupid, but it's worth starting to internalize – even though habits are hard to change – it would be a mistake to keep putting all your eggs in one basket, even if the basket is American. √
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