Steve Walt walks the cat back from the Gaza disaster to show how many of Israel's strategic decisions in the 50 years since Suez have been boneheaded. Excerpts:
Israel's strategic judgment seems to have declined
steadily since the 1970s — beginning with the 1982 invasion of Lebanon
— perhaps because unconditional U.S. support has helped insulate
Israel from some of the costs of its actions and made it easier for
Israel to indulge strategic illusions and ideological pipe-dreams.
Given this reality, there is no reason for Israel's friends — both
Jewish and gentile — to remain silent when it decides to pursue a
foolish policy. And given that our "special relationship" with Israel
means that the United States is invariably associated with Jerusalem's
actions, Americans should not hesitate to raise their voices to
criticize Israel when it is acting in ways that are not in the U.S.
national interest.
Those who refuse to criticize Israel even
when it acts foolishly surely think they are helping the Jewish state.
They are wrong. In fact, they are false friends, because their silence,
or worse, their cheerleading, merely encourages Israel to continue
potentially disastrous courses of action.
And this:
[W]hat is perhaps most remarkable about Israel is how often the
architects of these disasters — Barak, Olmert, Sharon, and maybe
Netanyahu — are not banished from leadership roles but instead are
given another opportunity to repeat their mistakes. Where is the
accountability in the Israeli political system?
