My fellow Israelis, as we continue to fight the same old war in the new Middle East, it might be time to dust off those myths we tell ourselves, and take a good look at what lies underneath, to see which direction the sands are shifting beneath their bases:

1. We are the only democracy in the region. That, for the past 70-odd years, has been the basis of our “special” relationship with the US. But if Syria’s new leader, Julani, does hold free elections as he has promised, that statement will technically be untrue.

Julani, in the tried-and-true Jihadist manner is trying to wipe out at least some of the opposition before those elections take place, but there is still a real chance that Syria will put together some form of representative government. In this case, we seem to be mildly encouraging him, publicly bombing Damascus but negotiating in private. Even we can see the benefit to Syria shedding its legacy of Assad and Assad.

In contrast, here, in this Jewish, democratic country, we are learning that the line between democracy and not-democracy is not all that clear-cut. Our government believes it can chip away at its underpinnings while we still naively assume future elections will be fair and democratic.

Unfortunately, all of this is beside the point. As far as the US is concerned, democracy is out, riches are in. And if you don’t have riches, or at least a big, flashy marble palace, it helps to have rich friends and to be tall, young and look good in a suit, as Julani does.

The USA has been our rich friend until now, but today they are a rich friend who is threatening to call in........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)