A Palestinian boy in Gaza inspects the damage done to a building after an Israeli airstrike. (Wissam Nassar, Maan Images)

With little surprise, I learned of the recent refusal of Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon to meet with members of the U.S. Congress, whose institution provides Israel with the economic wherewithal to occupy the West Bank. Through astonishing ineptness, rather than principled policy, Israel is risking the anger of its bankroller.

Former Secretary of State James A. Baker III recently noted, "United States taxpayers are giving Israel roughly $3 billion each year, which amounts to something like $1,000 for every Israeli citizen, at a time when our own economy is in bad shape and a lot of Americans would appreciate that kind of helping hand from their own government." Palestinian citizens of Israel scarcely see the American largesse, and Mr. Baker's numbers are somewhat off, but his point is well taken. With Israel's abusive treatment of Palestinians in the territories, inequitable distribution of government funds between Jewish citizens and Palestinian citizens, and the ongoing recession in the United States, it is time to put U.S. aid on the table.

The visiting members of Congress, though staunch supporters of Israel not yet questioning American aid, are beginning to raise questions about Israel's actions against the Palestinians.

Rather than meet with them, Mr. Ayalon lashed out at J Street, the new lobby group that had scheduled the meeting. Mr. Ayalon would never reject a meeting arranged by the American Israel Education Foundation, an offshoot of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, because the organization has not been critical of Israel's subjugation of Palestinians in the West Bank. But now, this serial offender of diplomatic norms and backer of transferring Palestinians from Israel, having learned nothing from his effort to humiliate Turkey's ambassador to Israel, has once again inadvertently managed to highlight the far-right political trend running riot through Israel - and extending itself into occupied Palestinian territory as well as Dubai. While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to obscure Israel's daily human rights violations against the Palestinians, Mr. Ayalon seems oddly intent on showing the discriminatory side of Israel.

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