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An American Paradigm Shift

(Israel Hayom) Lior Weintraub - Unlike past votes on anti-Israel resolutions, this time the resolution had nothing to do with Israel's actual conduct, but everything to do with its very existence and with the U.S. decision to implement the Jerusalem Embassy Act, which has received bipartisan consensus for more than two decades. In 2011, when Israel was trying to derail the Palestinians' statehood bid at the UN, I attended a high-level meeting between Israeli and American officials. When the Israelis asked the U.S. State Department to help torpedo the Palestinian effort, one American official responded: "The United Nations General Assembly gives the U.S. only one vote, just like all other states, and we have very limited clout." The subtext was that the U.S. was unwilling to have Israel's back in diplomatic forums. But even though the Palestinians had eight years to advance the peace process with the friendliest administration they could imagine, the peace process remained at an impasse. Today we are in a different era. It is clear that the Trump administration is going out of its way to signal that there is no daylight between Israel and the U.S. on the most sensitive issues, both military and political. The Americans are driving home the message that the world's strongest superpower is offering unequivocal support for its allies. This will bolster Washington's credibility in the international system. The writer, former chief of staff at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, is vice president and director of the Israel office of The Israel Project.
2017-12-22 00:00:00
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