America isn’t Sweden
Israeli silence in face of shameful US move exposes our hypocrisy
The American military murdered innocents both in Iraq and in Afghanistan, just like the Russian army did in Chechnya. There, I wrote it. Yet despite the severity of these charges, I will eat my hat if America’s ambassador will demand that the Israeli government condemn the abovementioned words. The Russian ambassador in Tel Aviv will also say nothing.
This silence will follow even though both the US and Russian governments declare that such murders never took place anywhere, with the exception of the unstable minds of rivals and journalists hungry for headlines.
It is surprising that the American and Russian ambassadors will learn nothing from Avigdor Lieberman’s conduct. In August, our foreign minister said that “the freedom of the press is the freedom to publish the truth, rather than the freedom to smear.” This followed a publication in a Swedish newspaper that included claims about IDF troops killing Palestinians and harvesting their organs.
Lieberman, as well as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, were not angered by the newspaper as much as they were infuriated by the Swedish government’s failure to condemn this improper conduct. As if the Swedish government is responsible for what is written in Swedish newspapers.
For this reason, the quiet that has prevailed on Israel’s foreign affairs front appears odd. There is a government in the world – rather than a newspaper or television station – that recently sought to capture a citizen suspected of treason. An agency on behalf of that government bribed the suspected citizen in exchange for secret information he acquired through his government job. This same government sent a man who pretended to be an Israeli Mossad agent, provided the money, received the goods, and the rest will be detailed in court.
Language of force
However, that government is not being reprimanded by our Foreign Ministry. Lieberman has remained silent for two days now, while a foreign government made libelous charges against Israel, pretending it asked a foreign citizen to betray his homeland for money. What’s the reason for this quiet? How could it be that this libelous administration, which acted deliberately, was not reprimanded, asked to condemn itself, or faced open criticism for soiling Israel’s name?
Had the Turkish, Swedish, or Norwegian governments acted this way, what would Lieberman say, and what kind of condemnation would Netanyahu seek?
Lieberman, just like Netanyahu, is scared of the Americans. The silence in the face of the trick played by the US Administration, which crudely exploited Israel’s and the Mossad’s name, teaches us first and foremost about Israeli hypocrisy. The Swedish government is responsible for what is written in a privately-held newspaper, while the US government is not responsible for a despicable act by the FBI? The Israeli government’s hypocrisy is unmatched.
Our government fears the US Administration, and rightfully so. After all, Israel is just as powerful as the government of Costa Rica. Israel would not exist for a minute without Americas’ backing. Without an American veto, the Security Council would pass, by tomorrow, a resolution annulling the 1949 partition decision on the establishment of Israel (and Palestine.) Without American weapons, the Israeli David will not even have a slingshot, not to mention F-16 fighters that can reach Damascus and Tehran. Without America, the Israeli bluff shall be revealed.
The silence in the fact of the shameful American act makes Israel’s attacks on Norway, Sweden, and Turkey appear much less credible. Officials there hear the Israeli silence and realize that Israel lacks any moral standing. It only understands the language of force, which it fears the US will use against it.
