That Israel and the U.S. have occasional spats is not unusual. Strain was evident early on in the relationship when Israel chose west Jerusalem as its capital. They resurfaced this week after President Barack Obama put an Israel-bound missile shipment on hold. Jerusalem and Washington can patch things up and the two leaders can resolve things through continued dialogue. But it will take time for the relations get back on track. The disagreements over Operation Protection Edge are only the tip of the iceberg. Unfortunately, the U.S. has helped exacerbate the situation: an emboldened Hamas saw that the two nations are at odds over the proper response to its repeated cease-fire violations and now political bureau chief Khaled Mashaal and its Gaza leader Ismail Haniyeh want to renew hostilities. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was wrong to try and have Qatar and Turkey take over the mediation efforts from Egypt. But he has so far refused to concede this grave error. Now it is the White House that is out of touch. By halting the missile shipments, it has taken a principled stand that has no bearing on the situation on the ground. Imagine if Israel actually needed those missiles for the ongoing conflict. Israel would have escalated the situation things by trying to topple Hamas and possibly taking over the Gaza Strip so as to undo the potential effect of this embargo. But this feud was avoidable. "For Israel hath not been forsaken" (Jeremiah, 51: 5). In 1975, after then Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin said he would not accept the American dictates on the interim agreement with Egypt, U.S. president Gerald Ford slammed the brakes on military aid to Israel by announcing a "reassessment" of U.S. policy. The pro-Israeli lobby and the Israeli Embassy's congressional liaison Zvi Rafiah convinced 76 U.S. senators to sign a letter to protest the decision. It wasn't long before the administration buckled. Israel has not lost its luster on Capitol Hill. Obama, who has a lot on his plate at home, has no interest in picking a fight with Israel on the Gaza conflict, where it has justice on its side. He, too, understands that Hamas is not the Palestinian Authority and that there is merit in having the latter man the border crossings at Kerem Shalom and Rafah, as Netanyahu has insisted. This, as Obama knows full well, would allow the Palestinian Authority to establish a foothold in the area for the first time since 2007. Israel's internal politics are also at play and the U.S. has been meddling in Israel's internal affairs in broad daylight. Polls have not helped shed light on where we stand: Netanyahu is popular but the public is somewhat disappointed by what the operation achieved; Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has lost support over his overly aggressive stance while Economy and Trade Minister Naftali Bennett has sounded similar rhetoric and his poll numbers have only gone up; even the Likud, which has all but severed relations with its leader, is gaining strength. But what we need now is restraint. The average Israeli would not like to see a protracted feud with the U.S. Politicians who have gone overboard with their attacks on the White House will soon discover that they are losing supporters. Israel has never had a better friend than the U.S. It must keep this critical truth in mind, not because of the missiles, but because of the battles that lie ahead on the world stage.
