Israel and the US: Fake Friends…Dude Accept it!
Why is the US making such a big deal out of last week’s declaration to build more homes in Jerusalem? Is it because it embarrassed Vice President Biden during his trip in Israel? I mean dude get over it. No, what I believe we have here is more likely a case of Fake Friends.
Here’s all I’m saying: I have friends that I really like and friends that are in my circle but I’m not so close to. If my ‘fake friend’ in the circle does something that annoys me then it drives me crazy. I can’t stop thinking about it, it changes the whole way I look at the person and makes me want to push them further out of my circle. But if a good friend did the same thing that annoyed me, I really wouldn’t care or make a big deal out of it. They are a good friend and I know them so it really doesn’t affect me and we move on.
Let’s cut the crap and call Israel and the US what they really are: Fake Friends. The US is always bashing Israel for making minor mistakes and even when we admit to the mistake, try to fix the mistake and move on there seems to be an endless amount of repercussions even leading to Israel’s ambassador to the US, Michael Oren stating that our relations are the worst in 35 years. This sounds like a case of fake friends and not just bad relations.
Case in point: Hey didn’t the Palestinians just fire kassam rockets into Israel this past week? Why yes they did. And where was the US- were they condemning their actions and telling them how this destroys any chance for peace and the process? Well I certainly didn’t read about it in the news and it hasn’t been coming out of Hilary Clinton’s mouth or Obama’s so I’m guessing they’re ok with it.
And that is because the US is playing favorites in their friend circle. I get it and it’s clear, Israel is a fake friend. You don’t want us to prosper, you don’t want us to build homes and you get us in trouble for doing the most minor of mistakes while the other side has blatantly begun violent attacks from kassam rockets to rioting in the Old City, a classic beginning-of-the-Intifada move.
I think good relations or bad relations, what does it really matter? As a fake friend you will always remain inside the circle and when you are needed then you edge closer to the juicy middle where you are appreciated but just know you will always do something to piss off your fake friend and end up on the outskirts again. That’s not diplomacy it’s just obvious.
If Israel and the US were Facebook friends, then we would need to create a status called fake friends (to tell you the truth this should already be an option since I clearly have ‘friends’ that I never talk to, like ever).
Israel needs to accept this status and go with it. Let’s focus on our better friends, the ones that like us, even if they are few and far a part (and I can’t think of any right now). Let’s hang out with them, have slumber parties, girl talk, bake and roast marshmallows. And as for the US let’s keep our distance, and continue to build homes for our people, protect our children and enjoy the fruits of our country’s success. Cause if we don’t, no one will.
The Big Felafel 
I don’t know… I think it has more to do with the fact that the US can’t look like it always plays favorites with Israel, so they nitpick; whereas they can’t be hypersensitive with the Palestinians because they’ll be hypersensitive back.
I also think the Obama admin has been making statements about stopping the construction of settlements, feeling pretty good about it, and then this happens, which I can understand would make them feel pretty dumb and out of control (which they are).
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agogreat points- it’s crazy what a mindgame this all is!
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoWell, then it looks like these are our only real friends left.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoSad and funny at the same time.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoI think you’ve got it backwards.
The US asked Israel to halt construction in East Jerusalem and the West Bank so that they can get peace talks going. Israel agreed, as much as Bibi can agree to anything, and then publicly embarrassed Biden by saying that we were just joking. If we were friends with the US, then we would never have done something like that.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoHmm…Rebecca/Molly — you really should stick with light-hearted social commentary. This foray into the political space won’t serve your reputation well.
Have you listened to the full Biden speech made at TAU last week? I suggest this will help you understand the complexities of the US/Israel relationship — complex because real friends are the only ones that can nudge us to tell us the truth sometimes.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoLesson Number One in International Relations:
Countries don’t have friends; the have national interests.
(I learned something at Columbia!)
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoAaron has it backwards and inside out–Israel never agreed to stop building in East Jerusalem. We explicity stated that we would not stop building in East Jerusalem.
East Jerusalem is not and never was Palestinian. The Palestinians want it, but it was designated as an international city by the UN in 1947, conquered first by the Jordanians, and recovered in a defensive war by Israel. The Palestinians have no standing here.
Ramat Shlomo is already a Jewish neighborhood,immediately adjacent to the high tech park and is contiguous with the other Ramat neighborhoods which the Palestinians have already, in prior negotiations, agreed Israel will keep. In other words, this is a building tender in an existing Jewish neighborhood which the Palestinians have already stated they don’t foresee being part of any future Palestinian state.
Furthermore, calling Ramat Shlomo, like Gilo, Har Homa and Givat Ze’ev, “East Jeusalem” is a propaganda ploy by the Palestinians—none of these areas were or are Arab–they just happen to lie over the 1948 cease-fire line, and in many cases were used by the invading Arab armies as artillery sites and military bases from which they pinned down the Jewish population with sporadic artillery fire, sniper attacks, etc. Places like Har Homa and Gilo already had land that had been purchased by Jews prior to 1948.
This is just Obama’s Arabist State Dept. finally getting a President who will adopt their Israel-hating policies–State is infamous for its Arabist positions, it’s dislike and contempt for Israel and for Jews generally (remember, it’s a WASP Ivy League institution, which recruits from Georgetown, the only school in my school days which had a Middle Eastern Studies program totally devoid of any mention of Israel) and fiercely held and oft-expressed anti-Israel positions. State re-ignited this issue because it’s a horse they’ve been flogging for 62 years, and they’ve finally got a President who will ride it for them.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoAndrew- I wrote this not Rebecca and I have no worries about hurting my reputation so long as I am being honest with what I say. As I said in the post, to me this isn’t about the Biden incident but a much larger problem in our relationship with the US. If this were a real friendship then we would be able to tell the US some ‘truths’ as you state too. And that is not the case nor has it ever been. Thanks for your comment I do really appreciate hearing what you have to say.
Aaron- Again, there was no joke here- a minister stepped out of place and spoke out of turn which BiBi apologized for and we are still not building and keeping to that deal as much as a normal growing country can do so. But what about what I said with the Palestinians firing rockets? Why should we have to stay serious when it seems that the only joke is the boom of a kassam during a peace process? Have you noticed that this peace process is leading to a very violent period much like the onset of the second intifada? I would like to hear your response to the kassam issue because I do want to hear you out. Thanks for the comment!
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoEssentially what you are saying about the Kassam’s is that it’s ok for us to break our promises because the other guy is acting worse. I’ve heard this argument for years about the double standard by which this country is judged. That we should not judge Israel but look how much worse our neighbors are acting. The problem with the argument is that it tries to excuse all of Israel’s behavior by comparing it to the Palestinian’s behavior and I don’t think anyone is buying the argument anymore.
Israel is no saint. We do a lot of really bad things. We may have the most humane occupation in the world, but we are still occupying and oppressing, which is bad and needs to be changed.
I agree with you that the US should have condemned the rockets, and for all I know, they might have and it got no press. But they also have a right to get angry when we break our promises and embarrass the vice president.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoHi Aaron,
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoThat’s not what I am saying. What I am saying is, if anything should deter a peace process is it the use of violence. These kassam attacks should make a dent in the process and also make the news in just the same way the Jerusalem comment made the news. That’s my point- if you have guidelines and steps towards peace than go by them on both sides.
Actually they are two entirely different things. Kassams are just status quo stating that we are at war with them. They are bad, but they are a reminder that we need the peace talks.
The settlements in East Jerusalem and particularly in the West Bank change the nature of the game. It clearly says to the Palestinians (and the rest of the world) that Israel has conquered the West Bank and is now making it a part of Israel. The settlements state clearly and unequivocally that Israel does not want peace with the Palestinians, but wants to subjugate the Palestinians and make them part of Israel either as citizens or second-class citizens.
Violence is the reason for peace talks. Settlements and construction make peace a more difficult thing to achieve and changes the nature of the conversation. In that sense, the two are not equivalent. The US has not condemned Israel for it’s violence against Palestinians, but for changing the game.
As someone wise once said, generally we sit down for peace talks with our enemies not our friends.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months agoAaron- I hear what you’re saying but I don’t agree with kassams being a sign of war. We are not at any kind of declared war right now. The kassams are not missiles being fired by Palestinian troops against Israeli troops. These are citizens who are using terror against other citizens to make their point. The settlements have existed for some time now and yet to say that this is the reason that the talks have been derailed today is not something I believe- since it seems to be an easy cop out on the whole matter at large. If you look at what happened with disengagement- the fact that Israel moved out of the area did not help any steps toward peace but rather ended up with more kassams on a daily basis until a war broke out. There is no one thing that makes or breaks peace.
| Posted 13 years, 2 months ago