Didi Remez translates an interview IDF Radio did with Likud Knesset member and Israeli National Security Council chief Uzi Dayan. Dayan basically tells the Obama administration Israel won’t do business with it on Jerusalem, no matter what the consequences to the U.S.-Israel relationship:
Narrator Razi Barkai: We wish to discuss these issues with Uzi Dayan, a major general in the reserves, former [IDF] deputy chief of staff, and current head of the National Security Council (NSC) and, I must say, No. 42 on the Likud Knesset list. Good morning, Mr. Dayan. We should not have been surprised. At the conclusion of the Taba talks of 2002, we had the Clinton paper in which he said something that all the American presidents since adopted — whatever is Arab, is Palestinian; and whatever is Jewish, is Israeli — and he was referring to Jerusalem. Why are we stunned when it suddenly happens again?
Dayan: We are not stunned, but it is simply time for us to say, “no.” Every nation has moments when it has to say “no” even to its friends, including strategic friends. I think it is time for us to tell the USA and mainly its President, “no more.”
Barkai: Listen, [Haaretz correspondent] Ari Shavit said — and this has not yet been stated publically, except if it were raised in meetings one-on-one — that if you say “no” to the Americans (and you will soon tell us what we say “no” to), the Americans can start taking very small, secret, and painful steps such as, for example, delaying all kinds of weapon shipment, start questioning the $3 billion in aid we receive every year, or start poking us with all kids of small knives on international arenas such as the United Nations. Does this not bother you?
Dayan: Of course it does. The USA is not only our primary strategic ally, but it also has the power [to do these things]. That is correct. Still, even among friends there are lines you do not cross, which we should say politely but clearly. In our case, we should tell the US President, “no, we can’t” because you start addressing issues that do not only stand for Israeli interests and values, and we are not only right about them, but we are also wise because they do not benefit the issue at hand.
That’s Remez’s emphasis. Question: Who else does Remez count as a strategic ally for Israel with remotely the power or global influence of the U.S.?