We cannot count on anyone but ourselves
Opinion: Today Israel is a superpower in security and a powerhouse in economics and has excellent foreign relations with the world's superpowers, but we must remember that back in 1967, Israel was left to its own device by these very 'friends'
When U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton a friend of Israel was fired about a month and a half ago, in a tweet, I felt uncomfortable.
About a week later, Iran attacked oil facilities in Saudi Arabia.
The attack was followed by a statement by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani calling it a warning.
Trump responded by saying that "Iran appears to be responsible for the assault in Saudi Arabia, but I don't want war", I was very worried.
When Trump talked on the phone with Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan about two weeks ago, and then announced to the world in a tweet that he had decided to remove U.S. troops from northern Syria - essentially abandoning the Kurds who fought the Islamic State for years and saw America as an ally - I started moving in uncomfortably in my chair.
"Think positive" I told myself, "think positive". Still I could shake an old cartoon I rememberhed out of my head.
The cartoon by Israeli illustrator Kariel Gardosh (alias Dosh) was taken from his book "So Sorry We Won", co-written by Ephraim Kishon.
The book was written in 1967, after the Six Day War, in which the small State of Israel was attacked on three fronts simultaneously, with the assistance of more Arab states.
In the cartoon, titled "What's Up", we can see the little Srulik – Dosh's personification of the State of Israel – wearing his trademark bucket hat and standing inside a large glass bottle.
This cartoon was inspired by the actions of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser who blocking Israeli vessels from sailing through the Straits of Tiran in May 1967 in violation of previous agreements, and affectively placed Israel under a blockade.
In the cartoon, Srulik seems distressed: he begs for help and tires to listen to what may be going on outside.
But outside the bottle on the right, in the east, a puffy-chested Soviet Prime Minister Alexei Kosygin extends his thumb in content.
On the left, in the west, a weak and embarrassed U.S President Lyndon Johnson, stands back and doesn't know what to do.
In addition to the two superpowers, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson looks at Srulik indifferently as smoke comes out of his pipe, French President Charles de Gaulle stands with his back turned to Israel – hinting at the French embargo on arms and aircrafts' shippments to Israel – and then UN Secretary General U Thant trembling with fear.
Only little Netherlands, who really wants to help, extends its empty hands desperately - after all, it cannot do anything by itself.
The end is known: Israel won that war alone, in six days, relying only on itself and not on all those "good friends".
Why did I remember all this now? Because Israel used to be that little Srulik, isolated from the rest of the world, powerless and helpless.
Today Israel is a superpower in security and a powerhouse in economics. It has excellent foreign relations with the world's
superpowers, which were skillfully forged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The situation cannot be compared to the situation in 1967.
Netanyahu maintains a close and warm relationship with the President of the United States, and thank you President Trump for moving the American embassy to Jerusalem – ending a 71-year and who-knows-how-many-presidents-long wait – and for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.
Netanyahu's relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin are also important and very valuable.
But we must always remember that at the moment of truth, If and when it comes, we have no one to relay on but ourselves.
