Bolton: 'Forget the League of Democracies - Make Israel part of NATO'
Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton, who is a McCain supporter, has criticized two of McCain's more radical foreign policy proposals, and instead urges making Israel part of NATO (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).“I don’t think you can boot Russia out of the G-8,” Bolton said in a small breakfast with reporters at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative Washington think tank. “You have to ask: How did they get there in the first place?”Come to think of it John, if NATO makes its decisions based on consensus, what do you think the odds are of its mostly European membership supporting Israel's admission to the club?
Bolton also voiced skepticism about any new U.S. administration successfully promoting a League of Democracies to offset the power of the United Nations on international issues. “A League of Democracies is something worth pursuing,” Bolton said. But “I don’t see the Europeans joining because it would undercut the U.N…Ultimately, it will go nowhere.”
Bolton instead argued that the U.S. should promote an expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to include countries like Israel, Australia and Japan.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:21 PM
7 Comments:
Whether Israel would be allowed to join or not, I don't think it would be a good idea. If you think it is bad that Israel is pressured to soothe Euro and Arab sensibilities through its informal relationships with the EU and the US, just wait until Israel is a member and the rest of the member countries -- most of whom are no friends of Israel start to dictate this or that defense policy.
Israel must retain unfettered independent decision making and its membership in any organization, even the generally positive NATO will not change its status.
I think Israel could join NATO to obtain an additional form of insurance. But this must not become a substitute for Israel's need to defend herself. That is not a duty that can or should - ever be delegated to any other country or outside organization. Keeping Israel free and safe is Israel's job.
I've been proposing this for the last 15 years.
Particularly in these troubled times, when the Arabs and Iran are increasingly and successfully attempting to herd the West into sacrificing Israel a la Czechoslovakia c. 1938, it wouldn't hurt to formally draw a line in the sand backed by a commitment from NATO.
I agree with normanf that Israel must not rely on any other nation for her defense
I'm with you, Carl. I think it must have slipped Amb. Bolton's mind that Israel has a major problem for the Euros - it has a bunch of Jews in it.
Anything for Israel with Eurabian strings attached to it is a bad idea.
The rule about NATO is that if you attack one member nation, you attack them all.
Might work in the case of Iran though.
It makes sense from a European perspective. If Israel were a NATO member, and Germany was attacked by Iran, then Israel would be forced to come to its rescue.
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