By Dr. Aaron Lerner
January 13, 2006
U.S. President Bush is certainly trying to tell the Israeli public to vote for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Kadima Party, but the Bush team's actions have been anything but supportive.
Ask the families of Israelis who have literally "died to please Bush" as time and again the Sharon team reduced vital Israeli security measures at the insistence of the White House.
The Bush team's rhetoric has been anti-Palestinian terror, but the Bush team supports the Palestinian Authority's (PA) proposal to put even the most radical and dangerous Palestinian terror cells on the PA's payroll.
President Bush may talk about disarming the terrorists, but in the very same breath he praises plans to train and arm them as cops.
The Bush team's rhetoric has been to respect and support Israel's vital interests, but the Bush team pressed Israel to agree to the precedent setting arrangement at Rafah that gives the Palestinians the right to not only grant free passages to terrorists but also the final say on the movement of weapons and explosives across the border. If the Palestinian inspectors insist that the anti-aircraft missile in a box is an umbrella, and PA officials back the claim, then under the Bush team brokered deal, the missile goes through as an umbrella.
Yes, the Bush team has at times "allowed" Israel to drag its feet on the implementation of various commitments that it has imposed on Israel, from delineating a final stranglehold on the settlement blocs that the Sharon team claims Washington accepts to irreversibly removing vital security arrangements. But at each step of the way these commitments have been carefully recorded - leaving it up to Washington to decide when and where to call these debts.
The Bush team's rhetoric has been for a strong Israel, but its arms policy has been to dangerously strengthen Israel's neighbors as it intentionally handicaps Israel defense industries in order to give a leg up for their American competitors.
The Bush and Sharon teams hope that Israeli voters will be impressed by the photo-ops and ignore the substance.
For Israel's sake, let's hope they are wrong.
Views expressed by the author do not
necessarily reflect those of israelinsider.
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
