US & UK have new pariah state: Israel

US & UK have new pariah state: Israel

It's a strange time to be in Washington, and hard for me to come to grips with the fact that I'm witnessing the worst crisis in the history of US-Israeli relations.  It's less about the fact that a visiting Israeli Prime Minister was sneaked in to the White House to avoid the media and sent home without so much as the ritual "mutual love" press release.

No.  It's more than that.  President Obama's frustration with the status quo is now coupled with the fact that he has a new ally to help him defeat the formidable pro-Israel lobby: the US military. 

In the past week I have blogged about how General Petreus told the US Senate that Israel's actions towards Palestinians are jeopardising the safety of American servicemen and women positioned through the Arab and Muslim world.  Rather than retreat from that bombshell proclamation, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates came out with this announcement, putting Obama in the position of answering whether he prefers the land lust of Jewish settlers or the health and well being of American GI's. 

Aipac finished its annual conference with their slogan "America is committed to Israel's security," but so few begged to ask:  "How committed is Israel to America's security?"

Those in London must also be noting some strange developments.  A Mossad officer from the Israeli Embassy in London was sent packing with a terse farewell from Foreign Minister David Milliband.   Kind of reminds one of the British expulsion of, oh say, the Libyan's back in the early 80's. 

And aside from saying that Britain would not stand and take actions by Israel that undermine the UK's security, just two weeks earlier Milliband had labeled the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict the "greatest recruiting sergeant" that al-Qaeda could ever hope for. 

Final thought:  I am told by a credible individual that the source of the Aipac spoof this week was none other than the Code Pink organisation, best known as a group of fed up moms tired of seeing their sons and daughters die in the Iraq war.  Seems both the military and their antagonists have a point of convergence when it comes to Israel....