Israel Is Not Nearly As Isolated As Some Like To Claim

I'm unmoved by the hand-wringing over Israel's "isolation." When I came to the country 30 years ago, Israel had no relations with the USSR (and Eastern Europe), China, and India. There was no foreign investment and a UN General Assembly resolution still stood, condemning Zionism as racism. It will take more than a Cairo mob, a truculent Turk, and another UN resolution to make me feel "isolated."
Middle East expert Martin Kramer, quoted by Todd Warnick

It's always popular to claim that Israel is isolated:

We all know the "big lie" technique: you say something enough times and everyone begins to believe it, whether anything close to approximating the truth or not.

Nowhere is that perhaps more successful these days than in Palestinian politics: "Gaza is the most densely populated place on earth"; "there are 4 (5? 6?) million Palestinian refugees"; "the number of Palestinians between the Mediterranean and the Jordan is equal to the number of Jews", and so forth and so on. Palestinians and the Arab countries make statements and an ignorant - or hostile world - accepts them at face value.

The latest canard Israel is now facing - internally and externally - is the country's supposed "diplomatic isolation." AP writes: "Israel isolated ahead of UN vote"; "Israel's alliances looking frayed," says the LA Times; "Israel isolated," says this Russia Today TV report; and of course, Israel's internal media headlines, whether television or many of its newspapers, constantly scream out as to Israel's "isolation" on the world stage.

Last year, Efraim Inbar addressed the issue and found that Israel is not as isolated as people claim:

For example, all states within the Soviet orbit, in former Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, as well as most African and Asian states opted for diplomatic relations. Significantly, rising powers such as China and India, and pivotal states such as Russia, Turkey, and Nigeria decided to have full diplomatic relations with Israel, which have been maintained ever since.

Generally, states facing the challenges of terrorism and/or radical Islam, mostly a post-1991 phenomenon, seek cooperation with Israel. The Jewish state has much to offer in the area of intelligence and tactical and doctrinal counter-terrorism. Because of the growing Islamist threat, the number of states seeking security relations with the Jewish state is on the rise. There are many countries that fall into this category, and the Israeli-Palestinian intractable conflict hardly deters them from useful interactions with Israel.

...Israel also has cordial and fruitful relations with Muslim states that emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Empire. Israeli presence is well felt in states such as Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. The Muslim identity of these populations and their elites does not hinder relations with Jerusalem in areas important to their national interests. Their sensitivity to the imagined or real misfortunes of the Palestinians is very low.

...A high level of friendship toward Israel and the Jewish people characterizes the two most populous and dynamic states on the world scene – India and China – rising powers in every sense of the word. Both are old civilizations that have not been burdened by anti-Semitic baggage, like Europe. They treat the Jewish State with reverence as they see in it a similar old civilization that has had remarkable achievements. Most Asian countries, even if they vote against Israel in international forums, have a similar attitude. Likewise, countries on the Pacific Rim, an area that has gained international significance, are usually pro-Israel. South Korea and Australia are prime examples. Sub-Saharan African countries also contain very pro-Israel circles for a variety of reasons.

Read the whole thing.

This years flotilla served as, if nothing else, an example that Israel does not stand alone in the world--judging by how the much ballyhooed flotilla was squelched.

And let's now forget about what happened, and did not happen, at the UN. Warnick writes:

Let's look at the recent events: the media might think that Mahmoud Abbas strengthened his standing among the Palestinian people and across the Arab world, but the facts are that he came away from last week's United Nations meetings with absolutely nothing: not only no declaration in the General Assembly, but he couldn't even gather together enough votes to bring the matter to the Security Council and embarrass the U.S. into a veto; Durban III was an utter failure; the Spanish foreign minister, Trinidad Jiminez - from the country that in every poll imaginable is shown to be among the most (if not the most) inherently anti-Semitic in Europe - declared yesterday that Spain recognizes Israel as the Jewish homeland; President Obama made an unprecedented pro-Israel statement in his UN speech; congressional bi-partisan support for Israel is stronger than ever - and the list goes on.

Prime Minister Nertanyahu has also begun pressing home the point: asked yesterday by David Gregory on Meet the Press about Israel's isolation ("Israel is arguably as isolated as it's ever been in the midst of Arab Spring"), Netanyahu said he took issue with that assumption: "Well, we're not isolated in this country (the U.S.), which happens to be the strongest country on earth. Number two, you should come with me. You should come with me to Greece or to Bulgaria or to Poland. Or you should see the talks we have with the Dutch, with the Cypriots, and with others."

Netanyahu didn't expand on these remarks, but just to take Turkey as one example: as it reduced its cooperation with Israel, including cancellation of join military maneuvers and preventing the Israeli air force from training over Turkish air space, the prime minister and much to the chagrin of many, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, developed alternatives with (a traditionally hostile) Greece, Cyprus and the entire Balkan region, including Romania, Bulgaria, Georgia and in addition, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and others. This is not something that happened overnight, but these diplomatic developments are a result of a decade or more of Israel's economic and military standing in the region - and certainly belie the "isolation canard."

Now it remains to be seen whether Israel can expand and strengthen these bonds with other countries.

Hat tip: JW

Technorati Tag: Israel and UN.