A few days ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country would seek in the coming period to achieve what he called "arms independence." Upon hearing this phrase, the logical question that leaps to the mind of any observer is: if Israel, which has lived as a dependent on America since its founding to this day, is seeking to achieve arms independence — and perhaps economic independence — what will it do to accomplish that?
Netanyahu and his government are contemplating arms independence simply because some American officials recently hinted at withholding weapons and ammunition from Israel if it does not comply with US policy regarding the totality of conflicts in the region, whether in Iran, Lebanon, or Palestine.
A few days ago, US President Donald Trump said he was confident that Israel would implement whatever is agreed upon. We saw a translation of that in the non-targeting of Beirut and the ceasefire in southern Lebanon, even if that ceasefire remains fragile.
But the matter that calls for reflection and thought is that Israel, since its founding, has lived off American and Western aid and assistance across most sectors.
America was the first country to recognise it in the summer of 1948, and since that time Israel has received the largest share of aid that America provides to any country in the world — to say nothing of the aid, assistance, and grants it receives from several European countries, especially Germany, in atonement for what the Nazi regime did to the Jews.
In Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip since 7 October 2023 — which has continued in one form or another to this day, despite the ceasefire agreement last October — the United States opened its weapons stockpiles and financial coffers to Israel, in addition to providing absolute diplomatic support, most notably the use of the veto in the Security Council to block any resolutions against Israel. The United States also threatened the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court with various sanctions in order to prevent them from indicting Israel.
During the term of former US President Joe Biden, and despite his open support for Israel throughout the aggression against Gaza, he suspended only certain types of ammunition for a few days to pressure it into easing the bombardment — whereupon Israel and its supporters launched a fierce attack against him.
Current President Donald Trump has supported Israel in a manner no other American president has matched; he has fought with it and on its behalf in most of its wars. Yet he hinted weeks ago that, were it not for American support, Israel would have ceased to exist — and he repeated this statement more than once.
That statement had enormous resonance in Israel, and it was because of it that Netanyahu spoke up, demanding that Israel must achieve "arms independence." He then spoke last week of what he called "economic independence," saying that his country could stop receiving American aid within a few years.
We return to the question with which we began, and we repeat it: if Israel — which has lived on American and Western life-support since its founding to this day — is seeking to achieve "arms independence," what new strategy will it pursue to accomplish that?