‘Lonely country’

The outgoing Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gabriella Shalev, has lamented to American journalists that Israel is “the most isolated, lonely country in the world”.

Would that were so. It certainly deserves to be. But like so many Israeli assertions this is a wild exaggeration, in this case a crude attempt to tug the heartstrings of American public opinion knowing that it is the motor that drives White House foreign policy.

The reality, however, is that there are countries far more isolated, far more feared, despised or condemned. North Korea leads the list but there are others that are the butt of international opprobrium — Cuba, Iran, Libya, Zimbabwe or Burma for example. Is Israel less isolated than Cuba or Zimbabwe? Of course not. It has powerful friends who rally to its support when needed — most obviously the US but it is far from the only one. Virtually all the European states, even though they distance themselves from particular Israeli government policies or acts, most recently the settlements issue and the murderous attack on the Gaza relief convoy, are fundamental supporters of Israel when it comes to its right to exist and protect itself. Not just the Europeans. India is a firm friend of Israel (which also happens to be its largest supplier of defense equipment). Russia and China are similarly fundamentally sympathetic, despite criticism of some of its policies, in fact far more sympathetic in Russia’s case. It was striking — and shocking — that there was considerable support and sympathy in the Russian press for Israel’s attack on the Gaza flotilla.

Given that reality, there is little point imagining that things are about to change soon. Israel’s friends will continue to protect it — despite what happened to the Gaza convoy, despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s constant throwing spanners in the works every time there is an attempt to restart the peace process, despite the dangers to international peace from continued stalemate. That is why when Turkey argued for international sanctions to punish Israel after the Gaza convoy attack, it was a non-starter. For all their genuine shock at what happened, neither the US nor the UK nor France nor others were going to go down that route. Had it come to a formal UN resolution, it would have been vetoed.

It is, of course, the US that is monumental in its support for Israel — politically, militarily and financially. As last week’s Congress vote to give $205 million for the Israel’s “Iron Dome” antimissile defense system shows, nothing has changed despite the Obama rhetoric. Moreover, unlike the US planned nuclear shield which generated intense opposition from the Russians and which President Barack Obama has effectively shelved, this mini-version that will shoot down any incoming short- or medium-range missile, has his full blessing. Nor has it generated much comment, not even in the Arab world, despite the fact that it would effectively reinforce Israel’s military dominance in the region.

So much for Israel’s isolation — and it is particularly rich of it to bemoan the notion when it so effectively isolates the Palestinians of Gaza. Not even North Korea is so firmly imprisoned as they are.

Yet attitudes are changing. The European Parliament’s endorsement in March of the Goldstone report which accused Israel of possible war crimes in Gaza and the British refusal to import goods from Jewish settlements are indicative of a changing public mood — and public opinion is changing in the US too. The American public is no longer unquestioning in its support. That is what this rearguard action by Israel’s outgoing UN ambassador is all about — it is an attempt at a counter-strike. Does Israel clearly fear isolation? A country that fears isolation will not behave the way Israel does and become ever more intransigent. All indications are that it may become even more aggressive to its neighbors, oppressive of the Palestinians and opposed to any compromise whatsoever.