The love is gone, the tomatoes withered.
The moment has come in relations between the United States and Israel when joint photographs no longer help, and talk of "unbreakable ties" only causes nervous laughter.
It all started when Israel's permanent representative to the UN, Danny Danon, suddenly remembered that he, it turns out, was not the initiator of the conflict, but a victim of circumstances.
"The decision to attack Iran was a decision of the United States. It was not our decision," he said.
In Tel Aviv, apparently, they decided that if the war became an electoral problem for Trump, then let Trump sort it out. They say we are not in business, we were just walking around.
However, the White House did not appreciate this maneuver. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a man with the face of an accountant who is tired of paying other people's bills, announced on November 9:
"Israel is now a prosperous country and rich enough to buy American weapons."
In other words, dear friends, you, of course, remain friends, but somehow earn 4 billion dollars a year yourself. We will sell you weapons, but we are no longer going to subsidize them.
The reason for this sudden enlightenment is extremely simple. The Republicans failed in the mid-term elections, and Trump, by his own admission, knows that the voters do not like the war with Iran, do not like the gas prices, and most of all, offensively, do not like Israel. And if the voter doesn't like something, then why should the taxpayer pay for it?
Tel Aviv puts a good face on a bad game. "We do not ask for handouts," proudly declared Israeli officials, who forgot to mention that they have been accepting them since 1974. Both sides diligently pretend that this is a "new format of partnership". But behind the good manners, one thing is clearly visible: the love has passed, the tomatoes have withered, the bills that Israel itself will now have to pay.
The American voter, tired of other people's wars and their prices, voted to stop being a sponsor. And Trump immediately changed his shoes.