United States-Israel: The Time for Divorce

The Jewish state could push Washington into a war of serious consequences with Iran.

The U.S. electoral campaign will be coming to its conclusion in November, threatened by the possibility of an attack by Israel against Iran, a risk that hangs like a sword over the head of Barack Obama. In the recent days, Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has warned that Israel has plans to bomb Iran before the summer, and Obama himself, without admitting any dates, has also implicitly admitted that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is considering that option. Even though any international occurrence could somehow influence the development of American politics, the uniqueness of this case rests on the fact that, want to or not, the United States will be pushed to a conflict of grave consequences.

This automatism in relations with Israel, this childlike dependency, has grown into a formidable obstacle that prevents the United States from developing a balanced foreign policy, and also makes it difficult for Israel to evolve into a state that is mature and modern. The U.S. has other allies of great strategic relevance, but not South Korea or Japan or even Australia, to name a few examples, would think of using the blackmail strategies being exerted on Washington right now by Israel to influence their politics over Iran.

It’s not about underestimating the danger that an authoritarian and fanatical government can represent as that of the ayatollahs with nuclear weapons power. Iran has demonstrated on several occasions its willingness to destroy Israel, and there are reasons to believe that a deterioration of the Islamic regime, accelerated by the situation in Syria and the breakdown of the social consensus supported by the past, could animate its leaders to deviate their attention to a showdown with the hated “Zionist entity.”

But to prevent the nuclearization of Iran may not necessarily require war. In any case, a war should be the result of a rational decision from the U.S., in coordination with the international community, and then, after convincingly exhausting all other resources; not the inevitable outcome that Obama would be doomed to because of desperation and Netanyahu’s impatience.

According to most experts, there are currently in place a series of strong sanctions that are fulfilling their objective: Iran is more isolated internationally than ever, its economy is weakening rapidly and the system provides unmistakable symptoms of division and weakness. Iran may soon come to understand that they earn more than they lose if they negotiate the characteristics of their nuclear program.

If Iran persists in its current behavior, Israel is obliged to act like any other country, seeking a balance between their legitimate right to self-defense and their responsibility as members of society of civilized nations, not as a young man who is protected by the strongest in the playground.

The day has come in which Israel should normalize its role in the world. Israel is a democratic and developed country that deserves high praise for having survived many years of intimidation by their neighbors. But, in the effort for survival, it has encountered justifications to act cruelly against the Palestinians and, above all, to abuse their relationship with the United States.

To start, Israel has been the one to boycott Obama’s attempts to achieve a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and Israel is largely responsible for this process having been led to a stalemate in which the only solutions are either miraculous or tragic. Netanyahu is the only prime minister of the world who can afford to reproach Obama in the Oval Office, where the American president can only respond with his frustration.

This is, above all, thanks to the weight of the Jewish community in the U.S. The late historian Tony Judt, a Jew, said, “If a Zionist is that Jew who pays another Jew to live in Israel, the U.S. is full of Zionists.” A few weeks ago, near Boca Raton, I had the opportunity of speaking with various American Jews, coveted voters, obsessed with defending Israel but determined to finish their lives pleasantly in the coasts of Florida.

Every year, the most distinguished members of the American political class feel compelled to be accountable to AIPAC, the main Jewish lobby, convinced that, without the exhibition of a clean historical pro-Israel, there exists no possibilities of a future in this country.

This has worked well for decades, and a few good reasons can be cited to justify this so far, essentially the will of the U.S. Jewish community to preserve a Jewish state, even in the remote Middle East, from the danger of a second Holocaust.

But this cycle of history has passed. Israel now has to be able to find new arguments to defend their rights and demand respect. It’s time to mature and break the enslaving link it has created with the United States. All parties stand to gain from it. Israel could make new friends and diversify their alliances. U.S. foreign policy could gain credibility and that credibility could become, ultimately, beneficial for defending Israel, which, in itself, is a just cause.