Michael Oren’s curious understanding of friendship

Earlier this week, Israeli Ambassador to the United States Michael Oren reportedly said that relations between Israel and the United States "are in the state of a tectonic rift in which continents are drifting apart." The implication being that there has been a shift in the U.S. approach to Israel, led by a president who, unlike his predecessors, is "not motivated by historical-ideological sentiments toward Israel but [instead] by cold interests and considerations."

With Netanyahu due in Washington next week for a visit whose ostensible purpose is to demonstrate that relations between the two governments are good, these comments have raised some eyebrows.

Oren subsequently denied saying there was a rift (he said he used the word "shift"), but that doesn’t really matter. Because it sounds so much like something you’d expect an Israeli official to be saying at this time, when U.S.-Israeli relations are under the most severe strain since the early 1990s and the reign of George Bush the elder, that people are ready to believe it. It has what some analysts call the sound of "truthiness."

Which begs the question, is it true? The clear answer is: no.

There is no "tectonic rift" between the United States and Israel. There has been no shift in the U.S. approach toward Israel. To the extent that things have gotten rocky between these two allies, it is the result, not of changes in Washington, but of changes in Israel.

Oren, as Israel’s envoy to Washington, should be engaging in soul-searching over what he and his colleagues can do to remedy the situation, not acting like a powerless and largely disinterested political observer.

What we have today is a deeply-rooted and very strong friendship that is under stress. It is under stress because friendship is not a one-sided concept: it requires two people, or two countries, to behave in ways that demonstrate the kind of consideration and respect that is the bedrock of friendship.

It is a truism that America is Israel’s best friend and unshakeable ally. And the Obama administration has demonstrated this, over and over: with its defense of Israel in the face of the Goldstone Report; with unprecedented military/security support and cooperation; with its defense of Israel following the Gaza flotilla debacle; with its support for Israel entering the OECD; with its ever-tougher approach to Iran. And with its resolute commitment to something that, for years, successive U.S. administrations have strived to achieve: peace for Israel, which is the single most important thing for Israel’s survival as a Jewish, democratic state.

Unfortunately, the Netanyahu government has failed to respond to the Obama administration’s friendship in kind. To the contrary, almost since the day Netanyahu took office, there has been a seemingly non-stop stream of actions and policies that almost seem designed to provoke and embarrass the Obama administration.

Who can argue that Israeli game-playing over the settlement moratorium — turning a potential catalyst for the peace process into a months-long humiliation for the Obama administration — were the actions of a friend? Or that announcing expansion plans for the East Jerusalem settlement of Gilo at virtually the same time as the moratorium was announced was the action of an ally?

Or who can forget the announcement of plans to expand the East Jerusalem settlement of Ramat Shlomo, an announcement made during Vice President Biden’s visit to Israel — a visit that had been planned for the express purpose of showing solidarity with Israel? Or the announcement, during Prime Minister Netanyahu’s subsequent visit to Washington, of the issuance of building permits for the construction of a settlement compound on the site of East Jerusalem’s Shepherd Hotel?

Sadly, these are but a few examples — there are many more.

Netanyahu has played this game before. As prime minister in the late 1990s, he repeatedly embarrassed the Clinton administration as he worked to evade Israeli obligations under the Olso peace process and built the East Jerusalem settlement of Har Homa, over strenuous U.S. objections.

Under Obama, U.S. policy toward Israel has not shifted. Today the United States continues to behave in all ways as a real ally and friend to Israel. And in response, it has seen this friendship taken for granted. Rather than friendship, we have settlement expansion. Rather than respect, we have new home demolitions in Jerusalem. Rather than recognition of U.S. concerns, we have Israeli officials who cultivate a public narrative that U.S.-Israeli relations are falling apart.

It should pain anyone who cares about Israel to see the direction this friendship is taking. It should worry anyone who cares about the U.S.-Israeli alliance to see Israel act so dismissively in the face of serious and reasonable U.S. concerns.

U.S. support for Israel is indeed unshakeable, but friendship goes both ways. Rather than wasting time lamenting the supposed shifts and rifts in the U.S.-Israeli relationship, the Netanyahu government should stop the provocations and the political machinations and start acting like a real friend and ally. It can do this by demonstrating a real commitment to the Obama administration’s efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Netanyahu’s visit to the White House next week is a good place to start.

Lara Friedman is Director of Policy and Government Relations for Americans for Peace Now.