By Abhilasha Banerjee
It was sometime in the late 1950’s when this steamy love affair began. It was a typical love-hate tale…two strangers despise each other…. gradually the hatred begins to fade away….fast enough it turns from hatred to a ‘liking’ or rather an infatuation and boom boom, the grass gets greener, the roses begin to bloom and pure, angelic LOVE is in the air!!
The United States and Israel have now been tied in the bond of matrimony for almost six decades and theirs is indeed a marriage made in heaven. They continue to be thick as thieves, apart from a few skirmishes, well that is absolutely acceptable in every relationship, isn’t it? The relationship between the two has evolved over various phases into one of mutual love, support and also one of convenience, at least in the favor of the United States. (Well, that’s the privilege of being a superpower now…no fault of USA now)
Their marriage has indeed been a scandalous one and has received a lot of attention from the media and being in the print has now become habitual for the two love birds. Over the past few years, their inseparable bond has been subjected to an immense amount of conjecture regarding the “strategic” relationship the two countries share, with special emphasis on how the United States of America has acted in an utmost selfish manner and ‘used’ it’s wife (Israel) to make its presence more deep rooted in the Middle East. Selfish States I tell u! It is said that USA has used its expediency to the fullest and this is all part of its artifice to emerge as a global superpower. Isn’t this so similar to the olden days, when princes married women from affluent kingdoms to get a share in their father’s estate? Well, seems like USA was thinking on the same lines. The foreign aid program between Israel and USA is said to be the most generous one between any two countries, in terms of sheer volume. It is believed by many that Israel receives more U.S. aid per capita annually, than the total annual Gross Domestic Product of several Arab states… how very magnanimous of USA, isn’t it?
But contrary to popular belief, it is not only the United States that benefits from this relationship, Israel has also benefited equally in the bargain. They have always looked up to USA for political inspiration, military and economic assistance. In fact, on the recent vote in the United Nations General Assembly to upgrade the status of Palestine to a non-member observer state, USA strongly opposed this proposal. Thus the United States has never taken a back seat in showing solidarity and support towards its close ally or spouse, may I say?!
Despite all the speculation in the light of USA’s criticism regarding Israel’s decision to speed up settlement in Jerusalem and the West Bank and also the Geneva agreement with Iran, former Israeli ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon has given a formal statement that it shall not antagonize the relationship between the two nations, and the relationship shall remain “unshakable”. Well, petty quarrels among a happily married couple in nothing unusual of the sorts, or is it? Will this marriage of convenience take a turn towards a deadlock or will their love continue to prosper and make the hearts of USA and Israel grow fonder for one another?
Only time can tell….so let’s wait and watch!
