Best of the Blogs

Low Points in Israeli-American Relations

There are certain incidents in Israeli-American relations that are so taboo that they immediately draw charges of anti-Semitism if raised. Here are three well-documented cases:

1. Israel's attack on the American ship USS Liberty in 1967 during the Six Day War, which resulted in the deaths of 34 Americans and wounding of 174 more. Israel still insists the attack was an accident. Most of the Americans who were there think it was deliberate.

2. The so-called Lavon Affair. In 1954, Israeli agents working in Egypt attempted to turn the U.S. against Nassar by planting bombs in several buildings, including a United States diplomatic facility, and leaving evidence behind implicating Arabs as the culprits. One of the bombs detonated prematurely, allowing the Egyptians to capture and identify one of the bombers, which in turn led to the round up of an Israeli spy ring. Israel claimed that there was no spy ring, that it was all a hoax perpetrated by "anti-Semites".

But as the public trial progressed, there was clear evidence that Israel had indeed been behind the bombing. Eventually, Israeli's Defense Minister Pinhas Lavon was brought down by the scandal, although it appears that he was himself the victim of a frame-up by the real authors of the bombing project, code named "Operation Susannah."

The fact that Israel has an undeniable history of "false flag" operations (not just the Lavon affair but also a series of deadly bombings in France in the mid- and late 1970s) is the basis for the claim in Arab countries that Israel was somehow responsible in the 9/11 murders.

3. Jonathan Pollard. In November 1985, the FBI arrested Jonathan Pollard, a U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, on charges of selling classified material to Israel. Pollard was subsequently sentenced to life imprisonment. His wife, Anne, got five years in jail for assisting her husband. Israel apologized and claimed that the operation was unauthorized. "It is Israel's policy to refrain from any intelligence activity related to the United States," an official government statement declared, "in view of the close and special relationship of friendship" between two countries. Prime Minister Shimon Peres stated: "Spying on the United States stands in total contradiction to our policy." An Israeli inquiry found—not surprisingly-- that Pollard was not working for Israeli military intelligence or the Mossad but was directed by a small, independent scientific intelligence unit. In U.S. intelligence circles, the Israeli finding is considered Grade A bullshit. The extreme right wing of the Israeli government has long sought clemency for Pollard and—thanks to its unholy alliance with the Shrubster—may finally get it over the objections of American intelligence agencies.

posted by Jerry Bowles 4:54 PM

My Israel Problem and Ours

Like most Americans I have enormous sympathy for the image of Israel as a scrappy little democracy created at great sacrifice by a much-maligned people--surrounded by hostile neighbors--in the midst of an unforgiving desert. Putting aside the question of whether any theocracy can truly be a democracy and simply noting in passing the fact that Israel spends hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S. each year on public relations and lobbying the U.S. Congress to promote just this image (The American Israeli Public Affairs Committee ranks behind only the NRA, AARP and the National Federation of Independent Business in buying Congresspeople), the basic question of Israel’s right to exist is not one that many Americans—myself included—would challenge.

But, when Bushites wax dreamily about the possibility of establishing a democracy in the Middle East that will serve as a model and beacon for other countries in the region, it is worth pointing out that American taxpayers have been engaged in just such a nation-building exercise there since 1948. Nearly one-third of all American foreign aid goes to Israel, a nation with a population that is considerably less than that of New York City. The tab, so far, is about $100 billion in direct aid and who knows how much more in the form of other subsidies.

So be it. I read Anne Frank’s diary. If that $100 billion prevents another Holocaust than it is money well-spent. If, however, American money is used by Ariel Sharon to create a Holocaust in Palestine—something that seems very close to happening--then the blood is on our hands, too. For the level of support that we provide Israel, Sharon can do a lot better than assure us that Israel will make unspecified “painful compromises” at some unspecified point in the future.

There is a dangerous current of thought afoot—particularly among American right-wingers—that regards opposition to the policies of Israel--or simply pointing out that Israel has not always behaved as friendly as it might to his biggest patron--as anti-Semitic. It is perfectly acceptable to say, as I believe, that Yassar Arafat is an inept, corrupt, posturing, old fool who has led his people into a period of abject misery. However, if one goes on to say that Ariel Sharon is a liar and a murderer who has imposed an official policy of genocide on innocent—as well as guilty—Palestinians, then inevitably the charge of anti-Semitism is raised by somebody, mainly as a way of stifling further debate.

Sharon’s brutal crackdown on the Palestinians has done nothing to diminish American support. In fact, since Sharon deliberately touched off the latest round of violence with his provocative visit to the al-Aqsa mosque on September 28, 2000, support for Israel has grown. On some measures, Israel's current ratings are the most positive they have been since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, according to the latest Gallup survey. The poll, conducted Feb. 3-6, shows Israel's favorable rating is at 64%, up from 58% last year, but about where it had been in 2001. Republicans and conservatives have significantly more positive views of Israel this year than last year—the favorable rating has increased to 80% from 68% in 2002.

A lot of this support is no doubt admiration for Sharon’s tough guy image. Kill ‘em all and let Allah sort ‘em out is a popular approach to the problem out there in Bush country where the populace is kept in a perpetual feeding frenzy by bloodthirsty dickheads like Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O’Really. Sharon and his highly-placed agents of influence (oops, anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism) in the American government and media have somehow managed to convince Americans that Israel’s current wave of genocide against Palestinians is really just another part of our own war on “terrorism.” The reality is, none of the anti-Israel jihad groups target Americans, or at least they didn’t in the past. Now that Shrub has given up any pretense of impartiality in the Israeli-Palestinian struggle, who knows? It’s just another of the many ways in which our National Guard deserter Doofus-in-Chief has made the world a far more dangerous place for Americans than it would be if an adult were making decisions.

Israel even lies at the heart of the administration's obsession with Saddam. Bush is betting his presidency on the notion that liberating Iraq not only rids the world of a vicious tyrant and eliminates dangerous weapons of mass destruction, but also provides the key to peace between Israel and Palestine. The President is assuming that once the Palestinians agree to halt terror bombings and accept a peace settlement on Israel’s terms he can get Israel to recognize a Palestinian state and halt or rollback the Jewish settlements in occupied territories. Surely, Ariel Sharon would not double cross Israel’s best friend the United States on these matters.

Well, maybe. But, even many Israelis believe Bush is being hopelessly naive. As Zvi Bar'el writes in this morning’s edition of Haaretz:

Every devotee of peace will undoubtedly experience a frisson of emotion at hearing the vision of U.S. President George W. Bush. The end of the war with Iraq and the ouster of Saddam Hussein will effect an immediate change in the substance of the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. A democratic Palestinian state will be established, terrorism will be eradicated and the settlements will be halted. If only we had known that all that stood between us and peace with the Palestinians is Saddam Hussein, we would have removed him long ago ourselves.

posted by Jerry Bowles 10:18 AM