The essence of the Israel lobby is that the U.S. has so much power over Israel’s fate that the special interest here must act at all times to preserve the U.S.’s good opinion–or else Israel goes down the tube. That’s the genuine view of foreign relations held inside the lobby. And it is why the American press/establishment, which generally reflects the lobby’s concerns, can’t speak half so directly about the Biden insult as Israelis can.
Here is Uri Dromi, a former Israeli government spokesman, blasting the Israeli government in the International Herald Tribune:
By expanding settlements instead of separating from the Palestinians while we still can, we Israelis are dooming ourselves to lose the Jewish and democratic state that has been won with so much sacrifice. In other words, we are immersed in our own march of folly. And we are doing it with our eyes open.
Haaretz also slams Netanyahu. Compare this editorial to the lukewarm Times editorial on Netanyahu’s insult to Obama:
Under the cover of nicely worded statements touting two states for two peoples and the hoopla over the renewal of indirect negotiations with the Palestinians, Netanyahu and his government continue to establish facts on the ground – and in such a way as to conquer yet another hill and another path, while populating East Jerusalem with more and more Jews.
Rather than making conciliatory gestures toward the Palestinians and promoting an end to the conflict, the prime minister is sabotaging any chance of an agreement on the issue of Jerusalem. His construction and settlement ventures do not contribute to Israel’s security or economic prosperity. Instead, they render the chances of a diplomatic solution more remote, fuel greater frustration among the Palestinians, and degrade Israel’s international standing. This campaign to consolidate control over East Jerusalem must be stopped.
Populating East Jerusalem with more Jews. Can anything be more clear? Can racism be more clear than that? Here is anguished Zionist Avi Shavit, condemning the East Jerusalem expansion as "insanity" in Haaretz:
Our need for the United States is unprecedented. At this critical juncture, any national interest should be subservient to the supreme interest of strengthening this alliance. But now of all times, at the most sensitive moment, Israel chooses to act insanely, sabotaging national security with its own hands.… The continuation of the occupation makes Israel disfigure itself and its image; with its own hands it undermines the legitimacy of Zionism.
These two fundamental problems create a clear and present danger. Their fatal combination makes Israel unable to act rationally against a threat to its survival.
Note that Shavit says just what Ali Abunimah does, that Israel is delegitimizing itself. I wonder why Abunimah isn’t getting to write editorials in the U.S.! Thanks to Mark W for tips.
