"Scary US views,"

is the title of a late 2011 JP Editorial. In recent days, there has been a truly frightening articulation of the US administration's perception of Israel vis-à-vis the Muslim world. On [Dec. 2^nd], Defense Secretary Leon Panetta essentially blamed Israel for its own 'increasing isolation,' urging the Jewish state to reach out to its neighbors. He suggested Israel make diplomatic inroads with the Muslim Brotherhood's [MB] Egypt, Erdogan's increasingly Islamist and anti-Israel Turkey, and vulnerable Jordan, a country whose leadership - for the sake of self-preservation - has been making concessions to its own MB.

When asked what Israel might do to advance negotiations with the Palestinians, he said, Just get to the damn table. So Panetta thinks if only stubborn Israel would make more concessions… regional animosity toward Israel would miraculously evaporate after decades of incitement.

Also, the US Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, blamed Israel for Muslim anti-Semitism in Europe. While the White House distanced itself from his speech, Gutman had carefully planned in advance what he said.

He pinpointed the hatred… intimidation and violence directed at Jews generally as a result of the continuing tensions between Israel and her neighbors. Yet, instead of denouncing Muslims who attack European Jews because Israel stubbornly insists on defending itself, Gutman said these violent acts are a legitimate reaction, thus, different from 'traditional' forms of anti-Semitism.

JP wrote that both these US officials had this in common: a maddening insistence on mixing up cause and effect… Israel's isolation has not deepened as a result of anything it has done (besides existing). In Turkey, Gaza, Tunisia, and now in Egypt, governments have arisen, in democratic elections, that have, or soon will, pursue foreign policies exceedingly antagonistic toward the Jewish state. After all, why would any Arab country want closer ties with Israel when its people in open elections are expressing a distinct preference for a particularly fundamentalist, illiberal and anti-Western, not to mention anti-Israel and anti-Semitic, strain of Islamic leadership?

Any attacks on Jews perpetrated by Muslims purportedly in response to Israeli policies or its attempts to defend itself through military means are no less irrational than any other type of anti-Semitism… [It is] unfair to point to Israeli policies as triggering Muslim violence against European Jews.

While Gutman and Panetta's views are, regrettably, common, these views are held by men who have a critical influence on US foreign policy. That makes it downright scary… ("Scary US views," JP Editorial, 5 Dec. 2011)