Our government ministers would do well to bear in mind that there is a world out there that they need to take into consideration. The fact that Israel's ambassador to Washington, Mike Herzog, was summoned by the State Department for a form of diplomatic rebuke is the least of Israel's problems with the US. Though this is clearly a most disagreeable incident, the diplomatic-security benefit to be gained from the repeal of the Disengagement Law is genuinely worth a bout of unpleasantness. After all, it is good that our enemies should know that we have returned to parts of our homeland that we mistakenly abandoned in the past.
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The main problem is; however, that the dressing down that Ambassador Herzog had to endure from Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman is hardly an isolated incident. It comes at a time when the US President prefers not to meet with Israel's prime minister, and when in a clear counter to this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed his ministers not to meet their US colleagues until further notice. In other words – this is a marked trend of a deteriorating relationship.
The additional blow is that there are other conflicts arising day in day out, which are completely superfluous, with the US administration in particular and the international community in general. Israel is paying a heavy price because its government ministers are simply unable to hold their tongues – this is completely unacceptable behavior.
What, for example, was the point of Minister of Finance Bezalel Smotrich brazenly shouting that "There is no such thing as the Palestinian people"? Not to mention his timing, doing so immediately after he had already managed to spark the wrath of the international community by announcing that "Hawara should be wiped out"? Indeed, there is considerable dispute surrounding the question of the existence of the "Palestinian people". If somebody really feels the urge to talk about it then they could make do with a more measured statement, such as this. Why show a red rag to a bull? What good does that serve to anybody?
The same is true for the Minister of Transportation Miri Regev. How can it be that a minister who is so proud of her Moroccan heritage, and who served as the IDF spokesperson, comes to insult such an important country, in a style that is completely unacceptable both in the West and in Arab states? What would happen if a minister from an Arab state would have spoken about Israel in such a manner – we would surely have wasted no time in labeling him as an antisemite.
This also applies to the draft bill proposed by MK Moshe Gafni and MK Yaakov Asher (United Torah Judaism) to limit the religious freedom of the Christians in Israel. Do the honorable MKs know that only this week – yes, this week – those pro-Israel Christians held a solemn day of fasting and prayer in light of the current rift among the Jewish people here in Israel?
If there was any innate benefit in these provocative acts, then okay, so be it. But there is really none whatsoever. The only outcome they generate is a chain reaction causing serious harm to Israel's international interests. Those who have the privilege of residing in ministerial bureaus should bear in mind that there is a world out there that they need to take into consideration.
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