Israel Matzav

Can this marriage be saved?

The State Department announced on Monday that Israel is still a 'strategic ally.'

Israel remains a strategic ally of the United States, the US State Department reaffirmed Monday amid a dispute over Israeli plans to build settler homes in east Jerusalem.

What does that mean?

Well, let's compare it to a married couple. One spouse (let's say the husband) decides that he needs 'breathing space.' "I need to get away from you for a while," he says. He goes out and flirts with his wife's worst enemy. The wife decides that she needs to protect herself. So she opens her own bank account, spends some money on things that interest her but don't interest him, makes some new friends for whom he doesn't particularly care. He comes home and blows a gasket. She's intimidated by him so she sits silently. But his friends see what's happening and warn him, "be careful - if you go too far she will leave you." So he sends her a letter that says "I still love you, but you have to do what I want you to do to maintain my loyalties."

Anyone think this wife is going to cook the husband a steak dinner? Anyone think she's going to be in "the mood" for anything afterward?

The US is the husband. Israel is the wife. The 'breathing space' is Obama's statement last summer about putting 'space' between the US and Israel. You can figure out the rest yourselves.

Can this marriage be saved? My guess is only when the husband gets a new attitude and goes back to appreciating the wife, or in this case when the US gets a new President.

The couple at the top has nothing to do with this. I would have put a picture of myself and Mrs. Carl, but thank God our marriage is much happier than the US - Israel relationship, so I went with anonymity.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:28 AM