Diplomatic stars.

Editor,

After watching Israel's violent behavior for the last few years I finally believe I understand how their posture is intended to work and how it guarantees that no one in the world except the American ruling class supports them.

Israeli policy makers seem to believe that presenting oneself as an angry hornet to what they perceive to be a hostile world will discourage any enemy from contemplating attacking them. This angry hornet posture applies particularly to the Palestinians, who lived for centuries on the land that Israel took away from them.

Israelis seem to believe that if they treat the Palestinian people with enough contempt, violence, humiliation, and degradation, the Palestinians will get fed up and leave. Similarly with the Gaza blockade challengers. Come out guns blazing and no more outsiders will come poking their noses into Israel's business.

So Israel has no friends. Oh, the Arabs attacked us. Blah, blah, blah. People who defend themselves with belligerence -- like the U.S.A. and Israel -- are permanently at war, have you noticed? And it is always someone else's fault.

People who understand diplomacy, like the Irish and the South Africans, for example, find ways to transform antagonistic relationships into mutually respectful ones. And please do not include Barack Obama and his "post-partisan" excuse for trying to have everything both ways in any circle of diplomatic stars.

Re: "Mr. Netanyahu at the White House" (7/7/2010)