Abdaljawad Omar | Mondoweiss
Benjamin Netanyahu's recent comments that Israel must start making its
own weapons and become a self-sufficient "super Sparta" signals that the
small colony might be willing to embrace its isolation — all in the
name of annihilating Palestine.
History in the small colony of Israel has a way of circling back on itself,
presenting old dilemmas in new clothing. Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu's recent remarks — warning of Israel's growing isolation and
the need to evolve into a kind of "super-Sparta"
with an autarkic economy — echo back across decades. To hear him speak
of a self-reliant arms industry freed from the grip of foreign politics
is to hear the ghost of the Lavi fighter jet, haunting Israel's present.
In the 1980s, the Lavi project embodied
Israel's quest for independence in the skies. Washington served as both
patron and skeptic, underwriting its development while questioning its
logic. Why, American officials asked, should Israel pursue its own
advanced fighter when U.S.-made F-16s were cheaper, readily available,
and already battle-tested? The Lavi's story became a paradox: an ally's money nourished the dream, while the same ally's strategic interests sharpened the knife that would kill it.
That paradox has not vanished.
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