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Jack Lew’s prescription for preserving US-Israel ties belongs to an era when Israelis could rely on America to protect their vital security interests
Ambassador Lew’s blog post reflects his deep commitment to, and concern for, Israel and the Israeli-American relationship (“How to Keep US-Israeli Relations from going off the cliff,” August 18). Unfortunately, it is also an exercise in nostalgia, for a period when Israel was content to rely on American support and funding for its security, and when deference to American interests at the expense of Israeli interests was assumed by Israeli policymakers no less than American policymakers like Mr. Lew.
It also reflects nostalgia for hoary shibboleths of Mr. Lew’s wing of the Democratic Party, particularly faith in diplomacy’s ability to overcome hard divergences of interest, such as those between Israel and its terrorist enemies, and a supercilious conviction that liberal American Jews know better than Israel when Israel should make “difficult political decisions.” This will no longer do.
Experiences since Oct. 7 have provided Israelis with many lessons, not least about American-Israeli relations. One of the most important is that Israel can no longer reliably base its security on “continued strategic cooperation with the United States.” Ever since President Obama signed JCPOA, Israelis have increasingly felt that this cooperation cannot be relied upon when and where it is most important.
