Security in the Broader Sense

The Fellowship  |  February 14, 2018

With so many threats facing Israel, and so many enemies posing these threats from all directions, Israeli security is a complex topic. But writing at Israel Hayom, Israeli veteran, politician, and diplomat Zalman Shoval breaks Israel’s current security situation down, looking at the various factors that come into play, the different battles Israel may face, and what her greatest ally’s cooperation means:

According to The New York Times, in 2016 then-U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry proposed that Egypt and Jordan “guarantee” Israel’s security within the framework of a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians.

Due to the importance of good neighborly relations with these countries, we do not need to reflect on the absurdity of this idea. However, we can note that while the entire Middle East was awash in waves of terror and violence – from Islamic State to Iranian belligerence – the person in charge of America’s foreign policy blatantly ignored the reality in the region, whether out of ignorance or worse, because Israel’s security was extremely low on his list of priorities.

Then-President Barack Obama gave the standard answer to those who objected to his unfavorable policies toward Israel: “Security cooperation between America and Israel has never been better.”

In many ways this was true, but security is not measured solely by planes, weapons, joint military maneuvers and monetary support, all areas where the Obama administration was indeed very generous. Security is also measured by geopolitical, geographic and even demographic factors, which the previous administration ignored…