(Ha'aretz) Moshe Arens - The past eight years have been an aberration in the U.S.-Israeli relationship. President Barack Obama told Israel at regular intervals what it should and should not do. Israel and the U.S. remained friends, but that was still no way to treat an ally. Allied nations on occasion disagree, but they deal with such disagreements without turning them into public debates, without giving each other orders, while respecting each other's democratically elected leaders. Obama did not treat Israel as an ally in the negotiations with Iran. It was Israel that Iranian leaders said they intended to wipe off the map. Israel is the target of Iran's nuclear program and Israel is the target of Iran's terror campaign. It was Iran which blew up the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires and the Jewish Community Center there. Yet Israel was kept in the dark by Obama about the negotiations with Iran, and they were concluded despite Israel's objections. Until this day, the U.S. does not recognize Israeli sovereignty in West Jerusalem, and maintains its embassy in Tel Aviv. It is hoped that President Donald Trump will order the relocation of the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. All Israelis have a right to expect that. The writer served as Israel's Minister of Defense three times and once as Minister of Foreign Affairs.
2016-11-30 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive