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USA and Israel: Lovers tiff or Divorce?
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18-03-2010 6:24am#1
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Couldn't the US buy this equipment on the open market? Israel is also a hell of a lot more dependent on the US military since it doesn't produce any of its own military aircraft with the exception of drones.
The high-end Israeli stuff tends to be world leaders in its field. For example, they've got two forms of Active Protection Systems in service on their vehicles now whilst Raytheon is still trying to feck about with their own version. Their optics are first class, even the Irish have bought them. Their equipment overall is cutting edge, and very good. But even at that, some of the low-end materials are still bought from Israel: For example, Israel is the only non-US source of small-arms ammunition for the US Army. Even the standard US Army issue field dressing in the first aid kit on every soldier is Israeli (And a damned sight better than the American one I used to wear).
Israel is not dependent on the US for its aircraft. It's just a hell of a lot easier/cheaper for them to get their aircraft from the US. Look at the Lavi/J-10 (Chinese fighter) as a capability case in point. Israel Air Industries is one of Israel's greatest single exports companies, and does a roaring business in avionics, mainly rebuilds (See, for example, the work they've done with the Turkish and Indian Air Forces), and the Phalcon AWACS system is, yet again, one of the best out there. However, ever since they built the Daggers (Mirage V variant) in the 1960s, the Israelis have been technically capable of building airframes. (Israeli-built Neshers were used by the Argentinians to attack a few British ships in the Falklands.) They can also build the avionics, and they certainly can build the weapons to hang off them (Americans buy them too).
Taken to the extreme, this is a photo of a US Navy F-21. Built in Israel as the IAI Kfir, leased to the US.
They -can- build fighters. They choose not to.
To be honest, I can't think of a single piece of military hardware other than helicopters which the Israelis are not in a position to be self-sufficient in. From radios through tank ammunition, the Israelis can do it.I'm sure Americans would love for stuff like that to be produced at home. More jobs and tax income.
By law they must be. For example, Beretta (Italian) have a factory to produce the M9 in Pennsylvania. FN (Belgium) makes the M-240 in Connecticut, I do believe. Eurocopter have a facility in one of the Carolinas, I think it is, to produce the UH-72. And so on.
But the companies themselves are still European.
NTM0 -
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MM, I wrote a big long reply to your post but boards clapped out and I lost it. Anyway, it is really a side issue to the topic and I'm too lazy to write it up again.
Anyway, more on topic. It seems that the meeting between Bibi and Obama wasn't the most warm.A Hazing in Stages
Yedioth Ahronoth (p. 4) by Orly Azulai -- A black limousine bearing the Israeli and American flags pulled up outside the entrance to the White House on Tuesday. Binyamin Netanyahu emerged from it, smiling and energetic. President Barack Obama cleared an hour of his time for him. Netanyahu knew that this was a golden opportunity for him to repair his relations with the president of the United States. He had no intention of missing this opportunity. But what he found waiting for him from the moment he entered the Oval Office was an ongoing humiliation.
The meeting, which was supposed to be a friendly conclusion of the crisis that erupted between the two countries over the construction in Jerusalem, only heralded the renewed conflict that continued to rage in the hours that followed.
Ambush in the Oval Office
Shortly before Netanyahu reached the White House, he learned that approval had been given for the construction of 20 housing units in the heart of the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem. The fragile trust, which had only just begun to form between the two sides, was shattered. Representatives of the administration said that they felt that “Netanyahu spat in our faces once again.” While the meeting was not canceled, staff members at the White House spared no effort to humiliate the prime minister: photographers were not permitted to take a picture of him with Obama at the beginning of the meeting, as is the norm. While a White House photographer did document the two men together, none of those pictures had been released as of last night.
When Netanyahu entered the Oval Office at 5:34 (12:34 AM Israel time), he walked into an ambush. Netanyahu did not take into account that he was facing a president who was stronger and more self-confident than in the past: just a few hours before that meeting, Obama celebrated an historic victory after he had his health care reform passed.
Obama immediately demanded to know which goodwill gestures Netanyahu was prepared to make towards the Palestinians in advance of the proximity talks. He was not satisfied with the answers Netanyahu gave him. Obama clarified that it was incumbent upon the parties to discuss in the course of those proximity talks all the core issues of the conflict—first and foremost the future borders. A source in the White House said that Netanyahu agreed that the parties would raise general ideas about resolving the conflict at the proximity talks. Netanyahu suggested that the details be addressed only after direct negotiations were resumed. The president spoke about practical steps. The prime minister pulled in the direction of theoretical steps. No agreement was visible on the horizon.
Obama Goes to Eat
The construction in Jerusalem also impinged upon the atmosphere in the meeting. Obama demanded clarifications about the construction authorization in Sheikh Jarrah. When Netanyahu was asked about that in the course of his meetings with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Members of Congress, he pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket that contained a flow chart describing the construction approval process in Jerusalem. “It was awful,” said one Member of Congress who met with the prime minister. “Netanyahu looked excessively concerned and upset. He waved around those pages, eager to persuade us that because of the complicated approval process for issuing construction permits in Jerusalem—one could never know in advance when a decision would be published on the issue.”
At 7:03, an hour and a half into the meeting, Obama rose from his seat. “I’m going to the residential wing,” he said, “to have dinner with Michelle and the girls,” President Obama has taken pains not to give up on spending quality time with his family since entering the White House. That said, had the meeting been held in a friendly atmosphere, Obama would probably have made an exception and would have continued to sit with Netanyahu—and perhaps would have dined with him as well. The president suggested that Netanyahu stay in the White House and consult with his aides, so that if he changed his mind he could inform the president right away. “I’m still around,” said Obama. “Let me know if there is anything new.”
While Obama was in the residential wing on the third floor, Netanyahu and his aides closeted themselves in the Roosevelt Room on the first floor. Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who had just finished a meeting with National Security Adviser James Jones, joined the meeting. At 8:20 the two leaders met for a second one-on-one meeting, which lasted 25 minutes. “The president asked Netanyahu to make confidence-building measures in advance of the proximity talks,” said a high-ranking administration source. “There were agreements and disagreements. The talks will continue.”
Talks on the Secure Line
The White House provided Netanyahu with a telephone line, as is the norm. But it seems that Netanyahu did not trust that his hosts would not listen in on his conversations. Upon the conclusion of his second meeting with the president, the prime minister and defense minister left for the Israeli embassy in Washington. Only there, using the secure line in Ambassador Michael Oren’s office, did Netanyahu feel it was safe to speak.
Yitzhak Molcho, Ron Dermer and Nir Hefetz stayed at the White House. They tried to secure an agreement about a joint statement, but met with failure. The White House responded with resounding silence. Contrary to the norm in meetings between leaders, no statement about this meeting was issued to the media.
The conflict with Obama forced Netanyahu to change his plans. He canceled his meetings at the last moment and, after a fitful night’s sleep, he left his hotel at 9:00 in the morning and returned to the embassy in order to formulate answers that would be deemed satisfactory by Obama.
At the same time, the White House and State Department issued statements saying that the administration was awaiting clarifications from Israel. Last night (Israel time) Netanyahu postponed his return to Israel, and met with George Mitchell in an attempt to end the crisis.0 -
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MM, I wrote a big long reply to your post but boards clapped out and I lost it. Anyway, it is really a side issue to the topic and I'm too lazy to write it up again.
Anyway, more on topic. It seems that the meeting between Bibi and Obama wasn't the most warm.
Thanks for that. What was the source?
If what you posted is true then Israel seem to be falling over themselves to sort this out but by steering such a hard course of these new homes any back down on it will feel like giving ground.
What could the US do make Israel think twice about these plans. There are mentions of the millitary grants but anything concreate? Like selling more arms to Turkey and Syria?0 -
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