The United States used to consider Israel a strategic partner, a primary matter in their international agenda. Not anymore. Israel needs to get its act together and realize that its fate depends solely on its willingness and ability to strengthen within, before it is too late to regret its inaction.
U.S. President Joe Biden met with Israel’s Prime Minister נפתלי בנט – Naftali Bennett at the The White House in the midst of the Afghan debacle. The fact that their first face to face meeting was postponed but not canceled despite the crisis was interpreted by some as a good sign that the relationship between the two countries is strong. Biden said, “We have become good friends,” and assured “Iran will never have nuclear weapons.”
But besides the photo opportunity and formal official statements, the summit between both leaders has no real meaning, no substance at the moment. Biden is preoccupied with his faltering mandate and does not consider the Middle East of utmost importance at all.
The U.S. has its own priorities and urgent crisis to solve at multiple levels, so it is not surprising Israel would come last. They seem to be taking the same stance with other regions of the international arena. Americans are leaving Europe alone for a while, and releasing their pressure on them.
They see the Russians faltering and weakening, losing their voice, so they do not care if Russia deals with Europe. And regarding China, Americans can do nothing against it either, they are not in conflict and do not feel them as an immediate threat. China could take Taiwan and even Japan tomorrow, or absorb the regions in Russia bordering the Far East, and the U.S. would not care, it would not be its primary concern.
The U.S. and Israel’s meeting was just a gesture to show everyone that the United States is connected to Israel, and no more than that. Why? Because who knows today what may unfold tomorrow. Who can guess what will happen in the next round of foreign affairs and if the rules of the game will change? So, it’s worth spending fifty minutes on the presidential agenda.
A significant change has taken place in the last six months in leadership from the Trump-Netanyahu era to the Biden-Bennett period. Jews in America rejoice that Biden is in power but that joy stems from a lack of care for Israel.
Otherwise they would have backed Trump, our friend, who openly supported Israel, helped strengthen our ties with the Gulf states and raised our position internationally. He also performed many positive actions behind the scenes, but today we are in a free fall, left alone, without any real lasting support.
Our importance in the world is declining day to day, many leaders belittle Israel or maintain a cold relationship with us. We ascended the path of torment, a path that strayed far from our spiritual destiny. The deviation from the truth will only teach us that the people of Israel are not dependent on world leaders, not on the right or on the left.
The fact is that no global crisis today is being managed properly. The current circumstances with Covid-19, Afghanistan, waves of mass immigration to Europe, and the collapse of countries in the Middle East are only some examples of failed policies.
World leaders like Merkel, Sarkozy and others have stepped down from their historic places on the global stage, and the dust and fuss they leave behind should be an example for us, the people of Israel, to create an orderly and wise plan to realize that we cannot rely on any leader to successfully pave the way and solve our problems.
The solution is to unite in mutual guarantee and strengthen our inner bond, which is our very foundation. The people of Israel depend on supreme leadership, on the upper force, on the connecting power of nature. Currently, we are divided and conflicted, we throw blame at one leader or another, and falsely assure ourselves that if there were another figure here everything would be fine, but the division between us is what destroys us.
As our sages wrote, “If a person takes a bundle of reeds, he cannot break them all at once. But if he takes one at a time, even an infant breaks them. Likewise, Israel will not be redeemed until they are all one bundle.” (Midrash Tanhuma)
Photo Caption:
U.S. President Joe Biden and Israel’s Prime Minister Naftali Bennett chat during a meeting in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, U.S. August 27, 2021. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
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