Just days after his monomaniacal boss blindsided Israel with a scathing one-sided attack against the Jewish state, John Kerry assured a very skeptical AIPAC audience that he would not allow the West Bank to turn into another Gaza. Unfortunately, there is ample precedent to suggest that when it comes to Israel (or for that matter, Ukraine) international or U.S. assurances don’t amount to a hill of beans.
In 1951, Egypt closed the Gulf of Eilat to Israeli shipping by positioning cannon at Ras Nasrani overlooking the Straits of Tiran. In 1956, Israel moved to break the blockade and in a lightening military operation, ejected the Egyptian army from its threatening positions in Sinai. The United States exerted extreme pressure on Israel to withdraw from Sinai and in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal, guaranteed Israel’s maritime rights in the Gulf of Eilat.
In May 1967 barely eleven years later, Egypt once again imposed a blockade preventing ships bound for Israel to enter the Gulf of Eilat. Despite, “iron clad” guarantees, the Western world stood frozen with fear, unable to act to enforce its guarantees and uphold international law.
No comments:
Post a Comment