Israel's Stepfather

By Shmuel Lerman

Israel’s dependence on the US does not stem from a need for monetary aid or support in the international arena. Israel can manage alone, but it does not want to: American aid fills its need for a moral and cultural “father”. The move from an asymmetrical protectorate relationship to a relationship based on mutual respect and cooperation depends on Israel’s ability to return to itself and to its unique culture. In this way, we will be able to conduct our relations with the US on the foundation of the alliance between the Jewish State and the “State of Jewish values.”

The relationship between the US and Israel is a mirror that can help us understand Israeli mentality. For a better understanding, it is important to analyze the ethical foundation upon which the United States was established and America’s current political and public approach to Israel. The result will be an anomaly; Israel has all the conditions it needs to conduct its relations with the world’s greatest power on the basis of mutual respect and cooperation. But in reality, the situation is just the opposite: The US exhorts Israel not to build in the Jewish neighborhoods in its capital; the US has imprisoned an Israeli agent for twenty five years; the US president puts his feet up on the desk when speaking with Israel’s prime minister – and makes sure that the picture gets out to the media. What are the underlying reasons for this situation?

America: “The Jewish Values State”

The Protestant foundations of faith in G-d and the Bible and the uncompromising drive for liberty and the willingness to fight for it created a special closeness between America’s founding fathers and Jewish heritage. The Jews’ redemption from Egypt became a source of inspiration for the American struggle for liberty and later, for the abolitionist movement; America’s founding fathers almost made Hebrew the official language of their fledgling country; countless American towns bear Biblical names like Bethlehem and Hebron.

Yoram Ettinger: “The alliance between the US and Israel is really an alliance between the only Jewish State in the world and the only Judeo-christian state in the world or ‘the state of Jewish values’ – as they call themselves.”

Yoram Ettinger, former envoy at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and expert on Israel-American relations, thinks that the American ethos has a deep affinity to authentic Israeli culture. “The alliance between the US and Israel is deeper than strategic considerations of threats, common interests or good chemistry between leaders. This alliance is based on an ethical foundation second to none in the entire world. The beginnings of the foundation were built in the seventeenth century – by the first settlers in the New World. The Founding Fathers saw themselves as the forgers of a modern alliance – the root of the word “federal” means “alliance” – between G-d and man. This approach was influenced by Jewish history, particularly Biblical history. A statue of Moses stands tall in the center of the General Assembly Hall of the House of Representatives and also in America’s Supreme Court. The official logo of Yale University is the Hebrew Urim and Thummim, the Oracle worn by the High Priest in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The US-Israel relationship is actually an alliance between the only Jewish state in the world and the only Judeo-christian state in the world, or the ‘State of Jewish Values,’ as they call themselves.”

This ethical foundation of American culture is not detached from what is happening today in America. Israel currently enjoys solid support in both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Tens of millions of Evangelical Christians support Israel and see its establishment as the fulfillment of the vision of the prophets. All the presidents of this generation have declared America’s commitment to Israel’s existence and prosperity. Even crises between the two nations have never caused a rupture that is impossible to mend.

On this background, we can ask why Israel doesn’t connect to these factors and develop a relationship with the US based on mutual respect and cooperation.

The explanation given by the shapers of Israeli policy is that Israel’s need for US financial aid and political support in the international arena tie our hands and do not allow us to conduct an independent policy toward the US. An analysis of these reasons, however, will show a completely different picture and point to an essential flaw.

American Aid

The Israeli citizen sees America as Israel’s supporting pillar. Despite Israel’s flourishing economy, development of advanced weaponry and emerging independence in energy production, the impression that Israel lives thanks to American handouts still prevails in Israeli society.

One factor that cements this impression is American economic aid to Israel. The dry facts, though, completely contradict common knowledge in Israel. American economic aid today amounts to 1.4% of Israel’s GNP. This is a tiny percentage of Israel’s national annual income and Israel must forgo it. The political, military and financial price tag attached to American “aid” is very high.

American Aid to Israel: Red: Civilian Aid Blue: Military Aid

Not only that, but Israel, home to 7.5 million residents, is in 12^th place in its per capita imports from America – similar to India with it 1,120,000,000 residents or Brazil with 172,000,000. Israel exports to the US account for 35% of its annual exports.

Commerce and Trade Balance Purple:Import plus Export Green: Trade Balance Red: ImportBlue: Export

Analyst Ronnie Barrett investigated American financial aid to Israel while he was a member of the research team of the Institute for National Security Research in Tel Aviv University. Barrett thinks that Israel must forgo this aid and notes that one of the reasons for our dependence on US economic aid is political: “Israel sees the economic aid as a powerful public symbol of US support and a strong signal on the strength of the relations between the two countries.

Barrett’s analysis points to the fact that Israel’s acceptance of US economic aid stems from a deep and concealed place: The will to be supported! If we do not accept financial aid, we will not have a “stepfather” who leads us – and we do not have a different father.

The Political Arena

Professor Ezra Zohar, author of “A Concubine in the Middle East” thinks that Israel gives the US more than the US has ever given Israel. He recalls, among other intelligence favors, Israel’s 1966 transfer of the MiG 21 to the US air force that saved American billions. In his opinion, American economic aid is no longer necessary for Israel today, while it still needs American assistance in the international arena. If so, why doesn’t Israel conduct an independent policy with the US?

“Because for two thousand years, we were taught not to act independently. This is a type of exile. By the way, some of our leaders did not study in Israel, and brought these values with them from abroad. In addition, Israel maintains a deep dependence on western culture. This undoubtedly influences the government’s steps. The result is that when the American Senate finally decided to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, it was the Israeli government that opposed the move.” Here, too, the failure is clear: The ethical-Biblical America wishes to conduct itself with a similar Israel. But Israel prefers to flee its identity and to conduct itself as a protectorate –despite the forces in the US that seek to move in the opposite direction.

It’s not the Money, it’s the Feeling of Protection

Warm relations with the leader of the free world are certainly a clear Israeli interest. But instead of founding those relations on the basis of equality, as is the norm in international relations, Israel prefers to see itself as a protectorate of America.

Why?

The answer to that question can be found in the depths of the Israeli ethos- constantly in a state of crisis. The declared goal of Zionism was to establish a normal country in Israel. In other words, to return to Zion and leave the curse of the exile – associated with Jewish culture – back in exile. One can certainly understand and even identify with the processes that led to this thought. But the result was that the State of Israel surrendered the ethical foundation that justified its existence – and searched for replacements in the form of America and the culture that it represents. In the process, we turned ourselves into an American protectorate. More than the American umbrella is political/military, it is cultural and ethical. If we stand up to America, the symbol of Western culture, we will pull the cultural carpet out from under our feet

Israel surrendered the ethical foundation that justified its existence – and sought to replace it with America and the culture that it represents. In the process, we turned ourselves into an American protectorate. More than the American umbrella is political/military, it is cultural and ethical.

A New Relationship

Obviously, Israel must return to itself and its original culture and achieve a new Israeli mentality: An independent nation that has a unique and original cultural ethos and knows where it is going. This new mentality will allow us to reach out to the nations of the world and particularly, to the US.

This new mentality is essential. There is also a different America. An America that threatens the values of culture and Biblical faith; an America steadily assimilating into the opposite values. Inside America, more and more voices are calling for internal disengagement from Israel’s founding values: family, productivity and national pride. This has in turn caused the Americans to elect a president from an unclear family background, who “solves” the economic crisis by printing more and more money and whose religion is still unknown. This loss of values has caused a severe economic and social crisis and the worst is yet to come.

The challenge that we face as we come to establish a healthy and stable relationship with the US is to return to ourselves and connect with all those healthy foundations that still maintain a majority in American public life. The future of our relations with America depends upon our ability to establish them on the alliance between the Jewish State and the state of Jewish values.”