Israeli policy makers for the most part lack understanding of the American reality. This does not only refer to the true global interests of the United States but frequently to the American English language itself. Most of our foreign ministers never served in the United States (with the exception of Moshe Arens and Abba Eban) and it is often the case that what they understand from discussions with their American counterparts is not exactly what the Americans wished to convey. We do not really understand America or its language. For example when an American says “that is a very interesting idea” it really means that he doesn’t agree at all with his Israeli counterpart. When he says “let’s have lunch sometimes” he really means he has no interest in having another meeting with you. Even more substantively, Israeli representatives have no real understanding of how Iraq now dominates American public discourse and how this misleads them when they are on official visits to the US.
