2025-09-22
9 分钟The Economist. Welcome to Editor's Picks.
I'm Charlotte Howard.
I'm the co-host of our American podcast, Checks and Balance.
You are about to hear an article we have chosen from the most recent edition of The Economist.
Thanks for tuning in.
On September 14th, after showing Marco Rubio, America's Secretary of State,
the massive 2,000-year-old blocks of the Western Wall at Jerusalem's holiest site,
Benjamin Netanyahu declared the alliance between their countries to be as strong and as durable as the stones we just touched.
Unfortunately, he is wrong.
As Israel becomes isolated over its war in Gaza, it depends increasingly on America.
During the current UN General Assembly, old friends,
including Australia, Britain, Canada and France,
will recognise a Palestinian state,
even as Israel's expansion of settlements in the West Bank makes real statehood less likely.
America is all that stands between Israel and a pariah status that would have dire implications for its diplomatic,
legal and military security.
For all Mr Netanyahu's blithe assurances that relations with America are perfectly solid,
they are not.
The Prime Minister has riled the Trump administration and is ignoring cracks deep within the foundations of the alliance.
Democratic voters have long been drifting away from America's most indulged ally.