suck me dry!

i guess the israeli political establishment is so accustomed to getting its way with uncle sam, it's nothing to pull on his pantleg and ask for another handout:

"Israel may request an addition $20 billion in military aid from the United States in light of the unrest sweeping the Arab world, Defense Minister Ehud Barak told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Monday." Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

i suppose they do have a bit of awareness of the precariousness of the budgetary situation playing out in DC these days, but obviously don't think that -- however it plays out -- there is no net loss for the likudnik state.

i admire their cockiness. what other country so completely manipulates its larger, more powerful patron with such impunity? for decades israeli politicians have been digging themselves into a hole vis a vis their arab neighbors, thumbing their noses at their neighbors and the greater international community, and spurning any gestures of accommodation or compromise.

instead, they've proceeded in complete confidence in the US flexing its veto muscle in the UN security council, and putting up ever larger sums of money when the israeli government won't shut up and try to work with its neighbors.

the regional order may be collapsing around them, and its patron may be gradually losing its grip over the oil autocrats that have guaranteed the US hegemony of the world's oil heartland, but israel always holds a couple of cards up its sleeve, just in case.

in particular, it can blackmail uncle sam with threats to attack iran, which would oblige uncle sam to join in the fray and destroy any remaining vestige of US relevance as a world power. this alone should be more than enough to ensure washington's compliance with israeli's request for yet another small donation...