Can Israel still rely on the US?
That being the case, can Israel still rely on the US, or could Washington one day cross Israel off their map of interests as they erased Afghanistan?
I raised this question in print 14 years ago (“The Nation That Dwells Alone,” Issue #160) after covering a two-day conference on US-Israel relations at the Begin-Sadat Center, where Steven David, a professor of international relations at Johns Hopkins University, stunned the audience by saying: “Any serious person realizes that one day America may abandon Israel.”
Professor David was the lonely voice in the crowd to forewarn that the values-based bonds formed between the US and Israel were becoming frayed under steady bombardment from hostile news media, academic papers, and books that portrayed Israel as an imperialistic occupying power and an apartheid regime that mistreats its Arab citizens. He also noted a growing number of US policy makers who viewed Israel as an impediment to Washington’s foreign policy goals.
David’s comments, prescient at the time, seem more relevant than ever in an era when social media magnifies Israel-bashing exponentially and the Biden administration treats Israel as a pesky obstacle to a nuclear peace with Iran.
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