U.S.-Israeli Relations at Low

Is the United States getting weary of its alliance with the most hated country in the world?

The U.S.-Israel relationship practically seems preordained and eternal. Certainly Israel has heavily depended on America for support against the almost numberless enemies that surround it—both within the almost entirely Muslim Middle East and, if its poor treatment within the United Nations is any indication, worldwide.

If this pillar crumbles, it would shake the Jewish state to its foundation.

Nevertheless, the Trumpet has tracked several stories over the past year pointing to this development.

It had been quite some time since U.S. President George W. Bush had met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon before they assembled at the president’s Texas ranch in April. Some officials and congressional sources say Bush has actually been avoiding Sharon. Many are characterizing the relationship between the two leaders as strained.

Middle East Newsline said this: “U.S. officials said relations between Jerusalem and Washington have been strained at both the defense and political levels. They said the Bush administration has been increasingly estranged from the Israeli government amid repeated misunderstandings between leaders, rising U.S. skepticism over Israel’s ability to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank and”—note this—“the growing perception that Israel has hampered U.S. policy goals in the Middle East” (April 12; emphasis ours).

That report quoted one U.S. official as saying, “The administration wants to focus its Middle East policy on a military exit from a democratic Iraq. This goal requires significant international cooperation, and that’s where Israeli policy has been seen as a hindrance.”

As the Trumpet said in the March-April 2004 issue, “For many Arabs, the number-one reason to hate America is its support for Israel. As the U.S. war against terrorism continues to yield high bills, a steady body count and a booming crop of anti-Americanism worldwide, is it possible that Americans will begin to think, Why are we making ourselves such a target over that little country?”

Zechariah 11:14 contains a prophecy that God would “break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.” This may well refer to a future rift between America (biblical Israel) and the Jewish state (Judah). The Trumpet is watching for it.