ISRAEL IS PAYING A HEAVY PRICE FOR US HELP

 Mantania Ginosar, Zionism on the Web May 2, 2015 

http://www.zionismontheweb.org/blogs/index.php/israel-s-paying-a-heavy?blog=12

From: OPERATIONS OFFICER Date: May 23, 2015  To: joe biden <info@messages.whitehouse.gov>, VALERIE JARRETT <info@mail.whitehouse.gov>, 

 This is  a well-written article.We are posting it   without comment. We are  awaiting Ben Rhodes'  rejoinder... since  this  article is now on his desk for a response.When he issues one,we will post it.

 The US has helped Israel on many fronts; therefore, we automatically believe that Israel should follow US dictates. However, Israel has paid too high a price for US erratic support. As you can read below, too many times the US has forced Israel to act against Israel's self interests -seriously reducing Israel's security. Therefore, Israel must evaluate carefully each US dictates and reject those that are detrimental to Israel's interests.
Part of the problem is that the US does not consider Israel as a fully sovereign state. The US would not dare pressure any other small country, Finland, Norway, even Lebanon, the way it pressures Israel. Israel's interests are only peripheral to the US own interests. Sometimes they are parallel, sometimes opposite

Fundamentally, the US has not grasped the complex reality of the Muslim Middle East and often acts not only against Israel's self interest, but against US' own self interests! That is why it has made major mistakes in Iraq, Syria and Egypt and is about to make the worse mistake by allowing Iran some nuclear weapons capability.

If Israel had rejected some US' pressure, Israel could have been now much more secure with significantly less danger from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and the PA too.

The Arabs and the Palestinians, who often are politically wiser than Israel, have ignored most US pressure and have gotten away with it. ISRAEL SHOULD LEARN FROM THAT EXAMPLE. Israel is very small (5% of California) and above all must protect its borders and security. However, it is economically strong and its GDP, close to $300 billion, is larger than the Philippines, or Egypt, or Ireland, or Finland.

 

Israel should not be afraid to lose US help because it is likely that Israel is more important to the US than US' limited assistance to Israel. Israel is the only reliable ally the US has in the Middle East. The US has used Israel as a military base for decades and benefited from many advanced Israeli military developments. Israeli purchases of US military aid provides many jobs in the US and reduces US costs of military systems. And in the commercial area, both sides are benefiting from close technical and marketing association. And the majority of Americans support Israel.

HOW THE US HURT ISRAEL:

Let me summarize some key US- induced problems that even U.S. military, financial and UN support may not have been worth these outcomes!

I hope to send the details of each later.

1. US declared weapon embargo on the region for 20 years, weakening Israel, not the Arabs.

2. President Eisenhower stopped the 1956 Sinai war prematurely -thus helping Nasser.

3. President Johnson tried to stop the Israel's conquest of the Golan at the end of the 1967 -Six Days war. Israel rejected it.

4. Nixon stopped PM Golda Meir from starting a preemptive Israeli attack, prior to the 1973 Yom Kippur war, causing large loss of lives. And Israel barely won.

5. A critical mistake: During the Gaza withdrawal of 2005 Israel planned a "Philadelphia Corridor" to separate Egypt from southern Gaza to prevent weapon and terrorists smuggling from Egypt. However, the US forced Israel to eliminate this critical barrier.

THIS ISRAELI BARRIER WOULD HAVE MARKEDLY CURTAILED HAMAS' ABILITY TO ATTACK ISRAEL, AND WOULD HAVE SAVED MANY ISRAELI AND PALESTINIANS' LIVES!! THIS ALONE WOULD HAVE JUSTIFIED REJECTING MOST AMERICAN PRESSURE. MORE OVER, MOST AMERICAN ASSISTANCE MIGHT NOT HAVE BEEN REQUIRED IF HAMAS WAS STOPPED BY THIS BARRIER.

6. The US insisted that Hamas could participate in a "democratic" election in Gaza thus allowing Hamas to take over the Gaza strip.

7. During the 2014 Gaza war President Obama pressured Israel to stop its attack on Gaza by preventing the transfer of needed and agreed upon ammunition requested by Israel during the battle.

8. The endless US driven "peace process. The US does not grasp that the Palestinians want to take over ALL OF ISRAEL, not just Gaza and West Bank. The Arabs believe that the Middle East is a Muslim region and non-Muslim should not live there.

9. The most significant issue is Iran nuclear weapon development. This US Administration purposely reduced Israel's ability to destroy Iran nuclear facilities. First by starting international negotiation, thus preempting Israel justification to destroy Iran's nuclear installations. Second, the US dragged the Iranian nuclear negotiation long enough that Israel can't bomb now the Iranian installations in an effective way. They are too secure now.

In light of these and other events, it seems to me that Israel should now stand its own grounds and not accept undesirable US dictates. Even if the US would threatens to reduce its military and political support!

The price Israel paid in the past was much too high. It may be higher in the future.