The deep bond that Israel has with the US is wrong. If Israel is ever going to recognise that it is a Middle Eastern country and has to work with its neighbours on an equal and respectful footing, then it needs to cut itself loose from relying on American handouts.

Why should the US fund a defence system for Israel? Why should the Barack Obama administration find $70 million (Dh257.46 million) to pay for a short-range rocket shield called Iron Dome? More so, since the Benjamin Netanyahu government has delighted in humiliating the Obama administration by totally ignoring its various requests to start negotiations with the Palestinians and to stop building illegal colonies in West Bank. It will be interesting to see if Republican candidate Mitt Romney has the courage to refer to these outrages during his visit to Israel.

Of course, this odd situation has been going on for decades, but that should not make it any less ridiculous. The powerful Zionist lobby in Washington has worked very hard indeed to make it seem normal that the American tax-payer should fund Israel’s defences. Not only is it supplying the equipment to Israel, but the Obama administration is also finding the money to pay for it. It is bizarre that an apparently sovereign nation like Israel is unable to find the money to defend itself and has to run to Washington for survival.

But as the American campaign for presidency gets into top gear, both Obama and Romney will go out of their way to tell their Jewish voters repeatedly that they respect Israel. It is part of the Zionist lobby’s success that they have managed to link Judaism in the US to Zionism and unflinching support for Israel, regardless of its government’s policies.

It should be part of the US administration’s aim to remind Jewish Americans that they need to evaluate Israeli governments in terms of records at hand and admit the fact that the present government is forcing the country into miserable isolation.