Mike Pouraryan
Bibi's Israel: The Height of Arrogance
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To What End?
Link: www.israel21c.org/
The Israeli Prime Minister has had a busy few days. He tried to "calm" the situation after insulting the Vice President. He ordered an investigation into what happened. I wrote about it earlier and commended the Prime Minister for it. Yet, after a few days of trying to calm things down, he decided to cater to his friends on the hard right in Israeli Politics. I find that extremely regrettable.As I reviewed the Prime Minister's Remarks, he tried to shift the blame back to the Palestinians by imploring them to come back to the negotating table. I have to wonder if the roles were reversed, what would the reaction be by the Israelis? Lands are being confiscated. Homes are being demolished. There has been a total security clampdown. Furthermore, there was a synagouge opened near Haram-Al-Sharif deep in the heart of the Old Muslim quarter. The arrogance and total lack of regard shown by the Israeli Prime Minister is simply mind-boggling, to say the least.
As The Prime Minister made his statement in the Isreali Knesset, the Israeli Cheering squad in the U.S. Congress went into full gear. Mike Pence, the US Presidential aspirant, came out with a statement calling upon the Adminstration to stand with Israel. His statement read in part, "...Since taking the oath of office, President Obama has repeatedly extended a hand of cooperation to our enemies while pushing aside the concerns and interests of our allies. This disturbing pattern has been displayed time and again in our dealings with Israel over the past year. The recent rhetoric by the Obama Administration threatens the stability of Israel....". This shows that he has no clue about the realities on the ground in the Middle East. Israel has contributed to its' own instability by not truly be courageous enough. As for extending hands to the enemy, he is simply lying. If he is referring to the speech the President made in Cairo, it was important to reach to the Billion Musllims around the world. He needs to really stop pushing a fantasy and really be more constructive. Mike Pence has to also realize that there is a hint of racism in it. He needs to realize that undermining the peace process and disregarding the aspirations of Palestinians--affirmed by George W. Bush--undermines the security and credibility of the United States.
The Israeli Cheering Squad did continue on. John McCain joined in the chorus , criticizing the Secretary of State for being "public about the criticism". John McCain needs to go back and revisit history. One of the reasons Apartheid persisted as long as it did was precisely because of the so called Silent Diplomacy by the Reagan Adminstration. It was not until the grassroots movement of divestment that finally began the end of apartheid. Silent Diplomacy helped the butcher Mugabe in ZImbabwe. It was not until the SADAC started the process of circumventing Thabo Mbeki before the current National Unity Government was signed. Don't these guys understand that a person no less than the Vice President of the United States was insulted? What happened to politics stopping at the Water's Edge? Why is it that Israel's Government can't do no wrong?
I respect what Israel has achieved. I have written about it in previous write-ups. I regard Israel to be a great country with wonderful resources. Their companies are amongst the best in the fields of technology, Medicine and Agriculture. I devour the updates I receive from Israeli21. I have written about it here. It is that Israel that I know and respect which has been given a voice by the rise of J Street in Washington. I also believe that Israel is not just its Government. Israel, unfortunately, has a dysfunctional and polarizing poltiical structure that allows a minority to dominate the political landscape. Israel is not Likud, Shat or Lieberman the racist who happens to be the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister.
The Prime Minister says he did not know anything about it. I don't believe him because he is the guy who actually goes out and plants trees. If he actually did not know, he should have known. He basically wanted to save his own skin. He needs to understand that things have to change. America should do what it needs to do to support Israel. But, that support does not give Israel a blank check to run rough shot over America's long-term strategic interests. Each Israeli Citizen receives more in direct US support than US Citizens. For all this support, all that Israel has done is repeatedly bite the hand that feeds it. Jonathan Pollard's case is just one of the more extreme examples. What they did to Biden was simply inexcusable. If I was The Prime Minister, I would have dismissed the Interior Minister immediately at the risk of my Government falling. That would have shown courage and leadership. That was not to be, though.
What Israel needs to understand is that it needs to change. I can't help but wonder whether the Obama Adminstration will have the courage to keep the pressure on or will succumb to the Israeli Cheering Squad and back off and let Israel get away with it, yet again.
