How will the next Israeli government view the Obama administration, more likely to pressure the Jewish state over its settlement addiction?
Will they go the route of former prime minister Menachem Begin, who more than 25 years ago lashed out at the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Samuel Lewis, telling him Israel was not a banana republic and that Israel would make do with bread and margarine if necessary, but would not accept dictates?
The simple reality, articulated by Haaretz in an editorial, is that, “the right-wing parties that support settlement expansion jeopardize Israel’s international standing as well as its security, both of which are dependent on American support.