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Perhaps It Is
Time For The U.S. To Reconsider Its Partnership With Israel
By Scott Ritter
12/17/07 "
Antiwar"
-- --- I have for some time now publicly articulated my
sympathy and support for the state of Israel, even while
criticizing those cases that I believed constituted poor
judgment and bad policy. My stance was based upon my past
experiences with Israel, which began indirectly in 1990-1991
when I was involved in counter-SCUD activities during Operation
Desert Shield/Desert Storm, and continued in a much more direct
fashion as a weapons inspector with the United Nations Special
Commission (UNSCOM), charged with disarming Iraqi weapons of
mass destruction.
As a weapons inspector I made numerous visits to Israel for the
purpose of coordinating with the Israeli intelligence community
on matters pertaining to Iraqi WMD. I was greatly impressed not
only with the professionalism of the Israeli intelligence
services, but also with the Israeli people and society. During
my time in Israel, I was witness to numerous horrific events,
including several terrorist bombings and the assassination of
Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. The resilience of the people of
Israel in absorbing these blows yet continuing to live life to
its fullest was remarkable, and worthy of admiration.
As a firsthand witness to the remarkable vigor of the Israeli
state and its people, and as someone who considers himself to be
their friend, it saddens me to see just how poorly the current
Israeli government returns this friendship, not to me
personally, but to my country, the United States of America. The
government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has embarked on
policies that are questionable at best when one examines them
from a purely Israeli standpoint; they are nothing less than a
betrayal of the United States when examined from a broader
perspective.
The insidious manner in which the current Israeli government has
manipulated the domestic political machinery of the United
States to produce support for its policies constitutes nothing
less than direct interference in the governance of a sovereign
state. The degree to which the current Israeli government has
succeeded in this regard can be tracked not only by the words
and actions of the administration of President George W. Bush
and the American Congress, but also by the extent to which a
pro-Israel lexicon has taken hold within the mainstream media of
the United States. Witness the pro-Israel bias displayed when
discussing the situation in southern Lebanon, the air strike in
Syria, or the Iranian situation, and the retarding of any effort
toward a responsible discussion of anything dealing with Israel
becomes apparent.
One would expect such efforts to shape the domestic public
opinion of a state deemed hostile, but when the target of these
Israeli actions is its ostensible best friend, one must begin to
question whether or not the friendship is a one-way street. And
if this is indeed the case, then perhaps it is time for the
United States to reconsider its decades-old policy of strategic
partnership with Israel.
It must be understood that the government of Ehud Olmert is
acting in a post-9/11 environment, with considerable
facilitators in the administration of President Bush, including
the vice president. These two factors combine to create a cycle
of enablement that allows a purely Israeli point of view to
dominate American policy. If the Israeli point of view were
built on logic, compassion, and the rule of law, then this tilt
would not constitute a problem. But the Israeli point of view is
increasingly constructed on a foundation of intolerance and
irresponsible unilateralism that divorces the country from
global norms. In this day and age of nuclear nonproliferation,
the undeclared nuclear arsenal of Israel stands as perhaps the
most egregious example of how an Israel-only standard
destabilizes the Middle East. It is the Israeli nuclear weapons
program, including its strategic delivery systems, that is the
core of instability for this very volatile region.
The statements by Israeli officials concerning the recent
National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Iran and its nuclear
program are perhaps the best manifestation of this reality. Avi
Dichter, Israel's public security minister, has condemned the
NIE as a flawed document, and in terms that link the American
analysis to a cause-and-effect cycle that could lead the Middle
East down the path of regional war. Like many Israelis,
including the prime minister, Dichter disagrees with the
American NIE on Iran, in particular the finding that Iran ceased
its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The Israelis hold that this
program is still active, despite the fact that the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has reached a conclusion similar to
the NIE's based upon its own exhaustive inspection activities
inside Iran over the past five years.
In threatening the world with war because America opted for once
to embrace fact instead of fiction, Israel, sadly, has become
like a cornered beast, lashing out at any and all it perceives
to threaten its security interests. The current Israeli
definition of what constitutes its security interests is so
broad as to preclude any difference of opinion. Israel's
shameless invocations of the Holocaust to defend its actions not
only shames the memory of those murdered over 60 years ago, but
ironically dilutes the impact of that memory by linking it with
current policies that are cruel and intolerant. The message of
Holocaust remembrance should be "never again," not just in terms
of the persecution of Jews, but in terms of man's inhumanity to
man. The birth of the Israeli state, as imperfect and
controversial as it was, served as a foundation for the pursuit
of tolerance. However, Israel's current policies, rooted in
ethnic and religious hatred, are the antithesis of tolerance.
Israel at present can have no friends, because Israel does not
know how to be a friend. Driven by xenophobic paranoia and
historical grievances, Israel is embarked on a path that can
only lead to death and destruction. This is a path the United
States should not tread. I have always taken the position that
Israel is a friend of the United States, and that friends should
always stand up for one another, even in difficult times. I have
also noted that, to quote a phrase well known in America,
friends don't let friends drive drunk, and that for some time
now Israel has been drunk on arrogance and power. As a friend, I
have believed the best course of action for the United States to
take would be that which helped remove the keys from the
ignition of the policy vehicle Israel is steering toward the
edge of the abyss. Now it seems our old friend is holding a
pistol to our head, demanding that we stop interfering with the
vehicle's operation and preventing us from getting out of the
car. This is not the action of a friend, and it can no longer be
tolerated.
It is time for what those who are familiar with dependency
issues would term an intervention. Like a child too long spoiled
by an inattentive parent, Israel has grown accustomed to
American largess, to the point that it is addicted to an
American aid package that is largely responsible for keeping the
Israeli economy afloat. This aid must be reconsidered in its
entirety. The day of the free ride must come to an end. The
United States must redefine its national security priorities in
the Middle East and position Israel accordingly. At the very
least, American aid must be linked to Israeli behavior
modification. The standards America applies to other nations
around the world when it comes to receiving aid must likewise
apply to Israel.
Let there be no doubt: Israel and its considerable lobby of
supporters here in America will scream bloody murder if their
aid is trimmed in any fashion. But in the greater interest of
what will best benefit the security interests of the United
States, and indeed the Middle East and the entire world, the
grip Israel has on American policymaking must come to an end. It
is up to the American people to make this change, first and
foremost by recognizing that a real problem exists in
American-Israeli relations, then by electing officials to
Congress who will deal responsibly with these problems based not
on the behind-the-scenes lobbying of Israel and its proxies, but
rather the legitimate interests of the United States.
If Israel decides it wants to be our friend, then it will change
its behavior accordingly. Absent this, America has no choice but
to declare its independence from a relationship that has
destroyed our credibility around the world and drags us
dangerously down the path toward another irresponsible military
misadventure in the Middle East. If, in the future, Israel
desires to reestablish a relationship with the United States
built upon the principles of mutual trust and benefit, then so
be it. Such a relationship is something I could embrace without
hesitation. But one thing is certain: no such friendship can
truly exist under the conditions and terms that are in place
today, and for that reason the entirety of the American-Israeli
relationship must be reexamined.
Scott Ritter is a former UNSCOM weapons inspector in Iraq and
the author of Target Iran: The Truth Behind the White House's
Plans for Regime Change (Nation Books, 2006).
Copyright 2007 Antiwar.com
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