THE COLLAPSE OF AFGHANISTAN MEANS THAT ISRAEL MUST FEND FOR ITSELF

Afghanistan’s collapse tells Israel it must defend itself—alone if necessary

 

By James Sinkinson

 

FLAME

August 24, 2021

 

 

                                        Israeli soldiers

                                              Israeli F-16

 

Every concession Israel has made toward peace since the Oslo Accords in 1993 has been made with reliance on international assurances that its actions will bolster the Jewish state’s security—and that the international community ensures nothing will be permitted to harm the safety of Israelis.

Actual history provides a harder, more sobering lesson.

From the Oslo Accords, which brought Yasser Arafat and tens of thousands of his terrorist friends to Israel, to released Palestinian terrorists who carried out more murderous attacks, and finally to Israel’s Gaza Disengagement in 2005, which provoked thousands of enemy rockets launched against it, few, if any of Israel’s concessions—all “guaranteed” by the international community—have increased Israel’s security.

The scenes the world witnessed in Kabul as the West, led by the U.S., abandoned Afghanistan, allowing the Taliban to sweep across the country, should serve as an updated lesson.

During Israel’s early years, especially with its stunning victories in 1948 and 1967, the Jewish State was largely abandoned by much of the world to fight its own battles. For many of these years, Israel suffered from an American arms embargo placed on Israel.

The U.S. tried to remain neutral between Israel and the surrounding Arab nations, all of which preached and sought genocide against the nascent Jewish nation. Intelligence and security experts in the West assumed that Israel would not survive, but they were proved dramatically wrong.

After the Six Day War in 1967, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242, which became the foundational pillar for the concept of “peace for withdrawal.” The idea, led by the U.S. and the UK, was that Israel would retreat from territories gained in its defensive war against invaders such as Jordan in exchange for some amorphous peace.

Since that time, Israel has retreated from territories many times its own size, from the Sinai, Lebanon, Gaza and large parts of Judea and Samaria. Since withdrawal, no border could be described as peaceful. Rocket attacks have regularly emanated from Lebanon and Gaza, and hundreds of Israelis were murdered in terror attacks originating in Judea and Samaria—formerly controlled by Israel but handed over to Palestinian Authority control in the 90s.

Israel’s Gaza Disengagement is a good example of American security assurances that never came to pass. As then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on multiple occasions in the lead up to the withdrawal, he predicated the plan on promises made by President George W. Bush.

Sharon and other Israeli officials were told that removing all Israelis from Gaza would ensure it became peaceful and secure, and if there would ever be attacks from there, the U.S. and its allies would give Israel a free hand to respond as forcefully as necessary. Of course, neither promise materialized, and to this day the IDF is hog-tied by hysterical international condemnation every time it tries to defend itself from Hamas terror.

The recent collapse of Afghanistan should be a wake-up call for major allies of the U.S., especially Israel. While the U.S. and Israel are inseparable allies with strong relations based on shared values and mutual interests, it only goes so far. As former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger once famously said: “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests.” In other words, while the U.S. has strong alliances around the world, its interests trump everything else. This is how every nation should and does act.

The State of Israel should bear this in mind the next time it is pressed to make a concession.

Israel has always taken pride that it has never asked any foreign army to fight its battles. It understands it must defend itself by itself. Unfortunately, on far too many occasions Israel has agreed to international forces—who are supposed to impose ceasefires and ensure security for Israel.

First it was EUBAM—a multinational European force meant to stop arms coming into the Gaza Strip from the Sinai after the Disengagement, which ran away at the first sign of threats by Palestinians. In addition, there is UNIFIL—the peacekeeping forces in Lebanon who to this day stand by and watch as Hizbullah fields and launches rockets and ground attacks into Israel.

In fact, there are zero examples of non-Israeli forces who have helped ensure the safety of Israelis.

Truth is, the U.S. has often been a tentative or unreliable protector. It did nothing to stop Saddam Hussein’s development of nuclear weapons in Iraq. Thankfully, Israel took out the Iraqi reactor at Osirak in 1981.

Nor did the U.S. do anything to stop Iran from massive military build-ups in Syria and Lebanon. Fortunately, Israel has conducted more than 1,000 missile strikes in recent years against Iran and its allies in Syria. Israel is also the only obstacle to the Iran-funded Lebanese Hezbollah army.

No wonder the scenes in Kabul do not shock Israelis, who remember the failed promises from their territorial retreats from Gaza and Lebanon. They have seen how quickly Islamic fundamentalists fill the gap once the West has had enough. This latest example should make them clear-eyed and determined not to rely on the aid and assistance of others—not even their greatest ally, the U.S.

As former Israeli ambassador Arthur Lenk tweeted after the fall of Kabul: “The USA is our closest ally. They have been there for Israel time & again over the years. But the horrific events in Afghanistan must be a hard, scary lesson about changing interests & cold, hard calculations. Dangerously, in 2021, self-reliance is more important than ever.”

Israel must return to something approaching total self-reliance. It should maintain its strong alliances with nations around the world, above all, the U.S. However, Israel should take definitive steps that ensure its own safety, security and independence.