Even Israel-right-or-wrong types see change in US tea leaves

Eric Yoffie

Eric Yoffie, the outgoing president of the Union for Reform Judaism, writes in the Jerusalem Post that the U.S. really is changing, that Ron Paul’s appeal is a symptom of that, and that Israel better wake up and be nicer. “Israel is misreading the US election season.” Yoffie is a hawk; he castigated Richard Goldstone at J Street’s conference two years ago. But he’s fearful. And notice that he slams Netanyahu aide Ron Dermer for thumbing his nose at the New York Times. (I suppose you could also tease out from this argument the Gutman view, that Israel’s actions are fostering anti-Semitism…) Thanks to Blankfort.

A danger for Israel is that her leaders will misread American election rhetoric.  It is easy to be caught up in the euphoria of the moment and forget that the day after the vote, things will return to normal:  America will again struggle to balance commitment to Israel with tough geopolitical realities.  Support will be provided to Israel, but pressure will also be applied.  Israel’s champions will assert themselves, but so will economic factors, oil lobbyists, and “realists” in the State Department.
 

Indeed, one of the more distressing aspects of the Republican primary season is the durability and resilience of the Ron Paul campaign, with its isolationist and borderline anti-Israel message.  Paul will not be president, but his relative popularity is a grim reminder of the degree to which economic hardship has pushed issues of foreign affairs and foreign aid to the margins.
 

In short, the support-Israel-at-any-price talk in America is just that, talk.  And therefore Israel’s leaders should not overreach.  The wise course is to avoid self-delusion and to put forward a modest, cautious foreign policy that will position Israel to establish strong ties with the next American President, whoever that may be.   Some things to be avoided:  proclamations by Israel’s foreign minister that Britain, France, and Germany must behave or they will become “irrelevant”; declarations by aides to the prime minister that he will not write for the New York Times, the most important newspaper in America, because of its critical views on Israel; and, above all, provocative announcements on settlement activity that infuriate all of Israel’s friends and allies, including American officials who, for the moment, are obligated to remain silent. 
 

Israel is a country of heroic people facing profound existentialist threats from every direction:  Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, and rejectionist Palestinian factions, not to mention the ominous uncertainties surrounding the Arab spring.   
 

But make no mistake:  it is also a small, vulnerable county that requires for its survival the economic, political, and military support of the Western democracies, and the United States above all.

Update: A couple of commenters including PABelmont have pointed out the smoking-gun in this piece: “American officials who, for the moment, are obligated to remain silent” about settlement activity. This is why Matt Lee of AP is incensed. This is why this website great. The Israel lobby, crowing about the power of the Israel lobby.