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What do many Americans think of Israel? My guess is that the overwhelming emotion is exasperation. In the Israeli-Arab equation, the Israelis are supposed to bethe good guys. The problem is they dont act their role. After all, Arab groupslike Hamas and Hezbollah are recognized nasties who deserve their comeuppance.So the Israelis giving them a shellacking should be easy to applaud, but this becomes difficult because in almost every confrontation, the Israelis come off asthe bully boys.

Consider the recent fracas when Israeli commandos boarded a Turkish ship (ostensibly) carrying humanitarian aid to the Palestinians in Gaza; and killed nine activists/terrorists depending on which side was defining them. Israel may have succeeded in asserting its authority, but it was a public relations disaster of epic proportions. Even worse, it put Israels traditional well wishers in an embarrassing position. The ship belonged to Turkey, a NATO ally of Israels chief patron, the United States. America could not placate one friend without alienatingthe other. So it resorted to the age-old diplomatic ploy of double speak: mouthing platitudes that meant absolutely nothing.

Not surprisingly, Turkey and fellow Arabs made much capital of the ostensible re

ason the ship was heading towards Gaza: carrying humanitarian aid to a population suffering deprivation obligingly amplified by the Palestinians to the worldmedia. True to form, the bleeding heart liberals who seem to be proliferating incontinental Europe and the Scandinavian countries joined in the condemnation. And the Israelis played into their hands by sending military commandos to board acivilian ship that was ostensibly on the side of the angels. Their argument that all assistance to Gaza had to be routed through Israel, subject to inspectionand clearance, cut no ice with the international community. It is always morallyand spiritually satisfying to side with the underdog and the Palestinians, egged on by its Arab patrons, played their part to perfection. Israel, either wilfully or unwittingly, doesnt seem to get this. Even assuming a few weapons did manage to sneak in the guise of humanitarian aid, the limited damage Hamas would beable to inflict with them would be an acceptable trade off for Israel not becom

ing the international communitys whipping boy.

Israels dilemma is that, even three generations after the Holocaust, its citizens have not rid themselves of their persecution complex. Some would argue that after 2000 years of wandering in the Diaspora, the Jews are justified in the belief that they can rely only on themselves for survival. If, in the process, theyoften come across as gung-ho cowboys, thats a price they seem prepared to pay.However, the reality is that in the 60 years of its existence as an independentnation, Israel has not only survived, but thrived. Nobody buys the image of Jewsas victims any more.

In theory, of course, Israel is grossly outnumbered by hostile Arab neighbours,

not to mention the Islamic Republic of Iran, whose eccentric president has publicly threatened to blow it to smithereens. In practical terms, however, there isno genuine threat to Israels existence. That is because even the Jewish statesavowed enemies have a vested interest in keeping Israel viable. After all, Arab solidarity has long been debunked as a myth. The truth is that many Arab states hate each others guts, but admitting that publicly would shatter the image of the brotherhood of Islam. A strong Israel ensures that they dont get too bigfor their boots. The enemy of my enemy is my friend.

The irony is that Israel usually ends up getting the bad press. In the present imbroglio, Israel is the big bad wolf starving the helpless denizens of Gaza. What seems to have escaped the medias attention is that Gazas big brother Egypt, with which it shares a common border, is not acting very humanitarian either

. Nothing really stops Egypt from sending food and supplies across the border. Israel may protest, but it is hardly going to risk going to war with its powerfulneighbour over this issue. So why is Egypt enforcing its own informal blockade?

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Because it despises Hamas. Not many may recall that the grandfather of all militant Islamic groups like Hamas, Hezbollah and even Al Qaeda, was the Muslim Brotherhood, which was founded way back in 1928 by Hassan Al-Banna. The Brotherhoodmade no secret of its desire to overthrow Egypts secular governments and establish as Islamic state based on Sharia law and is, therefore, definitely not on the governments Christmas list. Then there is the Palestinian Fatah faction in the West Bank, the legacy of Yasser Arafat. In 1970, this group tried to overthrow

the Jordanian monarchy. Quite naturally, are viewed with extreme distrust by Jordans rulers. So as long as Israel keeps Hamas and Fatah in check, Egypt and Jordan is not likely to rattle its cage. What makes Israels job easier is that Hamas and Fatah are constantly at each others throats.

So Israel continues to cock a snook at international opinion. It knows that theworld community will continue to fulminate against the Jewish states intransigence, but to paraphrase Shakespeare, it will be little more than sound and fury;and signify nothing. America is quite content to allow Israel, which is not encumbered by its patrons moralistic pretensions, to act as a surrogate worlds policeman a role the US often gets lambasted for. The Arab world, too, will do little more than shout as long as Israel serves its interest; and Israel will cont

inue to take care of its own interests whatever it takes. Sometimes, being regarded as a bully can actually be an advantage.