When an ally like Israel is being led by a man such as Benjamin Netanyahu it is time to play political hardball. The current administration in Israel wants a one state solution because they allegedly believe that peace can not be accomplished with the Palestinians. Perhaps their protests that peace is not a goal that can be accomplished is just a charade. What Likud and it’s right wing religious allies really want is the realization of their dream of a Judea of biblical times. This is just an extended effort to grab the land and homes of a people that they treat in an inhumane way.

They have also decided that security is more important than liberty and living in peace with their neighbors. As Benjamin Franklin once said, if I might paraphrase him,  if you are willing to give up liberty for security you deserve neither.

For many years now the United States has given financial aid to Israel to the tune of  $3 billion dollars a year. Is it time to end the financial assistance if the government of Israel does not change its ways?

We have been THE ALLY to Israel, from its very beginning as a nation. We have basically guaranteed Israel’s existence. They have been the proverbial underdog, a small country , surrounded by countries that wanted to destroy Israel and force the Jews into the ocean. But they are no longer the helpless country that they started out as. They are one of the few countries on the globe to have nuclear weapons.

It is to Israel’s self interest to continue to have the United States as their defender. Of late, the Likud party has made it increasingly difficult to support Israel. The United States needs to be the fair third party and still support Israel but it is time to repudiate the Israeli tactics against those who are their neighbors in Gaza and on the West Bank. Israel’s actions are as though they don’t care what their only true ally thinks. They now treat us as if we were an adversary and it is as if they want to go about their business alone in the world without any friends and allies. This is a short sighted view that can only have disastrous results in the long term.

The 3 billion dollars in aid that they receive from the United States is not nor it should be a lifetime guaranteed source of income. Bad behavior should have consequences and until the Israeli’s under Netanyahu start seriously listening to America and negotiating with their adversaries, we should deny them the financial assistance that they need. Maybe if they thought that the threat of the assistance being revoked was real, they would think twice about funding another unlawful settlement. It is time to play hardball. It is to the Israeli’s best interest that they cooperate with the United States and be a good ally.