Even with a formal request from the White House, Israel has decided not to support the Obama administration's Cuban initiative at this time.
Israel doesn't want to risk alienating key U.S. Republican allies in Congress.
Israeli officials say they were caught off guard by President Obama's historic Cuban announcement last week. While the Foreign Ministry was aware that U.S.-Cuban relations were warming up, senior officials told Haaretz that the U.S. had not briefed Israel on the year-long secret talks conducted with Cuba in Canada and the Vatican.
"They didn't even give us a few minutes' notice," which disappointed officials, one senior official told Haaretz, especially considering how Israel has toed the line on the American embargo on Cuba since 1960, often being the only U.N. member state to vote with the U.S. against resolutions to lift the embargo.
Such a vote occurred only two months ago, noted Haaretz, and Israel was once again the only nation in the world to support the U.S.
After Israeli officials held a number of discussions about how Israel should respond to the U.S.-Cuban situation, officials concluded that the country should not issue a statement of support at this time because, "in addition to the sourness about the Obama administration's conduct toward Israel in this issue was the strong objection in Congress to the reconciliation with Cuba," noted Haaretz.
Israel believes it would be better to wait and see where the reconciliation between the U.S. and Cuba is heading rather than risk annoying Israel's friends in Congress who oppose the move.
Israel's ambassador in Washington, Ron Dermer, said in an interview on Tuesday with the Fusion TV station: "We followed the United States' lead on this issue. ... There was no love lost between Israel and the Castro regime. Castro had supported some of the worst enemies of Israel, terrorist organizations that were fighting Israel, attacked Israel in international forums."
