How many times have we heard Bibi or some other right-wing flunky declare, in a passionate voice, that the bond between Israel and the US is unbreakable. Bibi sounds like a broken record here, and this is not the first time he has peppered his speech with the cute catchphrase: “…our bond with the US is unbreakable”.
The gulf between Obama’s vision for a peaceful Middle East and Israel’s vision of maintaining strategic control over what it deems as Greater Israel is widening, not lessening. The wider the gulf, the more frequently US and Israeli officials have to remind us that their “bond is unbreakable”. It is nothing less than a public relations ploy to discourage ‘trouble-makers’ from making too much a fuss over the disagreements, or to take some kind of gleeful pleasure from it.
Nevertheless, we should not underestimate what Netanyahu, Lieberman and the whole right-wing gang have brought to the international arena- which is greater clarity to Israel-Palestine equation. Daniel Pipes had ruminated that the re-election of Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a good thing because it was better to have a bellicose, apocalyptic, in-your-face Ahmadinejad who scares the world than a sweet-talking Mousavi who again lulls it to sleep, even as thousands of centrifuges whir away. The same logic can be applied to the right-wing dominance of Israeli politics. Already, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has earned all kinds of horrified accolades for his highly-publicized agenda against the Arab minority living in Israel. Recently, French Prime Minister Sarkozy privately advised Netanyahu to replace Lieberman.
I would not recommend replacing anyone. I think both Netanyahu and Lieberman should remain in power, because the ideological gap between a liberal-leaning US Administration and conservative-leaning Knesset might prove to be the only hope that the beleaguered Palestinians have for ever receiving a country of their own.
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
Recent Comments