The United States of 2024 is not the country we knew in the past. Even though Israel and the US have been at odds before, there has always been a basic understanding between the governments: each country has the right to protect its citizens. Biden's United States no longer believes this about Israel.
The United States has always been Israel's brake, always the one that prevented it from "total victory" as Prime Minister Netanyahu calls it. Since the Sinai Campaign in 1956, the US has prevented Israel from military operations with definitive results which would have put Israel on the upper hand in the Middle East. They have been the ones keeping us from controlling our own destiny.
The US has kept Israel from being a crushing force in the Middle East; a true regional power. It's simply not in the American interest. But the US has never actively endangered the existence of the State of Israel and the lives of its citizens. The Biden administration is the first to do so in a declared and active manner.
It is clear to everyone that in choosing between the lives of Israeli Jews and another term in the White House, Biden has gone with his political base. Over the past decade, the Democratic Party has become an extreme progressive party by any reasonable measure, and one of its most prominent characteristics is its extreme tolerance for left-wing anti-Semitism, similar to the British Labour party, which followed the same path during the Jeremy Corbyn era.
Biden said some nice words at the beginning of the war, paid lip service and momentarily stood by Israel, but as soon as his base turned its back on him, he began to change his tone, tie Israel's hands; worrying first and foremost about his political future. Biden is not only challenged by his voters, but also by fellow party members: the main threat to Biden in the 2020 primaries was Bernie Sanders, the extreme anti-Israel Jewish senator, and the ranks of his party are full of Israel haters, whether they are members of Congress such as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Talib, Ilhan Omar, or senators like Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and the like.
Israelis must understand: Israel will never return to what it was in the past. It will never receive support from the Democratic base as it will from the Republicans. It will never return to the "supra-party" status it was claimed to have held in the past. The Democrats abandoned large parts of their moderate base and began courting extremist groups such as Black Nationalists (BLM), LGBT groups, (Queers for Palestine), radical socialists (ANTIFA) and university youth who suck Israel hatred straight from their lecturers.
There is no way to turn back the wheel, and Israel must choose whether to continue the "special relationship" with the United States, which it is time to admit, is no longer that special, especially when Israel becomes a punching bag under any Democratic administration or stop being a protectorate, open its wings, and finally gain true independence.
Every decision will have its consequences. Continued dependence on the US will be accompanied by daily demands to provide the Palestinians with what they have so far failed to achieve despite the thousands of Jews they have murdered. This will be accompanied by international humiliation and meaningless consolation prizes such as normalization with Saudi Arabia after a Palestinian state has already been established.
The severance of dependence on the US will also have significant consequences. The quality of life in Israel will likely diminish - at least for a certain period of time. Businesses that rely on international relations will probably suffer a blow as Israelis will purchase less McDonald's meals and Lexus automobiles, instead having to make do with more local goods.
But the time has come for Israelis to make a real choice: Do we want an independent state or a protectorate? And if we decide to remain a protectorate, we should at least be aware of the consequences.
0 Comments