Israel is totally dependent on the US -- not 99%, but 100%. On the very same day as the publication of the Chickenshit statement, the US agreed to sell Israel a second squadron of F-35 fighter planes, after the sale of the first 19 planes (which costs 2.35 billion dollars). The money comes from the yearly tribute the US pays to Israel.
Without the automatic US veto on all UN Security Council resolutions not approved by the Israeli government, there would have long been a State of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the UN. A cornerstone of our foreign relations is the belief of many countries that in order to gain entrance to the favors of the US Congress, they first need to bribe the gatekeeper -- Israel. And so on.
Literally every Israeli is convinced that our relationship with the US is the lifeline of the state. If there is anything at all on which Israelis of all age groups, communities, beliefs and political orientations are unanimous, it is this conviction.
So how come our prime minister is working full-time on destroying the relationship between the two governments?
When our Minister of Defense, Moshe Ya'alon, visited Washington DC this week, all his requests to meet US cabinet ministers and other high officials were categorically refused, except for a meeting with his colleague, Chuck Hagel, who could not very well object. It was an unprecedented, open insult.
Ya'alon, a former Chief of Staff of the army, is not considered a genius. Some believe that it would have been better if he had stayed at his former profession -- milking cows in a kibbutz. When he declared that John Kerry suffered from an "Obsessive Messianism" in his efforts to achieve peace between Israel and Palestine, both Kerry and President Barack Obama were deeply offended.
But such statements by Israeli cabinet ministers have become routine. So have the sharp rebuttals of official US spokesmen and spokeswomen. These are ignored by the Israeli public.
BINYAMIN NETANYAHU is no fool. Chickenshit or not, unlike Ya'alon he is considered smart and intelligent. So what is he doing?
There is method in his madness.
Netanyahu grew up in the United States. When his father was boycotted by Israeli academia, which refused to take him seriously as a historian, the family moved to a suburb of Philadelphia. Binyamin prides himself on having an intimate knowledge of the US.
What is he thinking about?
He knows that Israel controls the US Congress. No American politician could possible be reelected if he voiced even the slightest hint of criticism of the "Jewish State." AIPAC, the most powerful lobby in Washington (apart from the National Rifle Association) will see to that. The powerful grip the Jewish lobby has on the media is a further guarantee.
In Netanyahu's view, in any confrontation between Congress and the White House over Israel, the President is bound to lose. So there is nothing to be afraid of.
NETANYAHU, IN FACT is playing roulette with all the capital of Israel in the vast casino called the USA. Perhaps he has been infected by his mentor and protector, the Casino Czar Sheldon Adelson, who has a hand in conducting Israeli policy in the US.
(It was Adelson who appointed the Israeli ambassador in Washington, Ron Dremer, a prominent activist of the Republican party, who is detested by the White House.)
In order to appreciate the magnitude of Netanyahu's gamble, with us as chips, one has to visualize the state of the union.
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