Israel’s ambassador to Washington Michael Oren convened Foreign Ministry consuls for an emergency briefing, and told them the crisis between Israel and the US is the worst since 1975, Army Radio reported.
Oren was referring to a crisis that evolved when Israel refused to sign a treaty to withdraw forces from Sinai in 1975.
In an unusual move, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) made a public call on the White House to tone down the rhetoric. The lobby said statements made by senior officials in US President Barack Obama’s administration were “very worrying.”
Wasn't this all over? Netanyahu apologized. He said the approval for the settlements wasn't timed to embarass Biden. He promised it wouldn't happen again. He promised construction wouldn't begin for years. And Biden was happy. If for no other reason than for once, he wasn't the one doing the apologizing.
And then Hillary called. And berated Neteyahu for 45 minutes. Netanyahu's response? "We will act according to the vital interests of the state of Israel," he said.
David Horowitz says
The United States...knows full well the impact its secretary of state’s words will have in these contexts – liberating Israel’s critics to drastically escalate their diplomatic, legal and economic assaults, and potentially emboldening military enemies. Words in this neck of the woods have consequences – real, life-and-death consequences.
and asks
How can one reconcile the bitter, accusatory, public dressing-down – which will be seized upon so delightedly and exploited so effectively not merely by those who oppose Netanyahu, but by those who seek to damage Israel – with the insistent assurances, from Obama on down, including Biden last week, that the US commitment to Israel is unbreakable, that the partnership is unshakable, that the relationship, as Biden put it, is “impervious to any shifts in either country and either country’s partisan politics. No matter what challenges we face, this bond will endure”?
Which makes you wonder how the US would respond if Hamas were in Mexico?
From The Razor
I don’t think Americans appreciate how physically small Israel is. When we hear that Hamas is firing missiles with ranges of 20 km (12 miles) into Israel, it’s difficult to relate it to anything we know. After all 12 miles from the border of Mexico is less than 1% of the distance between the Mexican border in the south and the Canadian border in the north. With the exception of border cities like El Paso and San Diego, Kassams launched by Mexico would fall into scrubland and desert.
America is a large country and our geography determines much of how we think and relate to the world. Americans perceive of space differently – speaking as one taking 2 years to navigate the narrow aisles of a Japanese grocery store without knocking food off the shelves. Our country is big, our homes are big, our roads are long and wide. Two oceans protect our eastern and western shores, and we have neutralized our only military threat in the entire hemisphere – Cuba an island 90 miles away.
But things are different in Israel. Israel is a small, fragmented country surrounded by enemies. When people urge Israel to trade land for peace they fail to consider that Israel doesn’t have very much land to trade. Worse, while Israel gives its precious land away – as it has in Gaza and in south Lebanon – it receives nothing in return. Instead of peace its enemies quickly use the land as a staging area for more attacks in a quest to get even more land from Israel. In essence “Land for Peace” becomes ”Land for More Land”, a method of conquest of Israel by its enemies.
The 20km (the effective range of the 122mm Grad rocket) distance ranges between 2/3 and 1/7 the width of Israel. For argument’s sake I will use an average of 1/4. For perspective imagine that a quarter of the width of the USA from Mexico – 500 km (300 miles) – was under bombardment from our southern neighbor. What would a similar map look like?
Israeli intelligence officials said last year that Hamas had acquired Iranian made Fajr-3 rockets, with an estimated range of 45km. From a comparitive standpoint on the analogy made above, that would put New Orleans, Denver, Salt Lake City, and San Francisco in reach.
The Razor continues
We can go further. Israel’s population of 7.2 million is roughly 1/40 that of the United States. Multiplying the number of rocket and mortar casualties by 40 and the American equivalent is 12,000 dead and wounded. How much “restraint” could an American government be expected to exercise in such a scenario?
The old adage that one should wait to judge a man until after walking a mile in his shoes can help us appreciate the conditions of “peace” that Israel has lived under for most of the decade. We can only hope that the Israelis have the wisdom and fortitude necessary to do what it takes to protect itself. Given the performance of its current government, it has shown that until now it lacks both.
A wise man once asked his 20 million daily listeners, "Why do you think Israel would attack Gaza? Is it for their national treasure? Is it because Israel wants all of the scientific discoveries that are being made by Hamas intellectuals? Is it because Israel wants that sand pit of territory? Israel was more than happy to give it away, so why the hell attack? What's there that you want? You want the oil deposits? There aren't any. Do you want the golf courses? There aren't any. Do you want the major economic infrastructure? There isn't any. Do you want the sanitation plants? There isn't any. Why attack? The Israelis left Gaza years ago. They gave Gaza to the Gazantas; they gave Gaza to the Hamas; they gave Gaza to the Palestinians. Why do you think Israel attacked Gaza? God gave you a mind. The fact is they didn't attack Gaza. Israel is finally defending itself."
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