On Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adopted a new strategy for managing Israel's diplomatic relations with the West. Long in the making and increasingly urgent, Israel's new strategy is very simple. Foreign governments can either treat Israel in accordance with international diplomatic norms of behavior, or they can continue to discriminate against Israel.
If they act in accordance with international diplomatic norms, Israel will respond in a like fashion. If they choose instead to discriminate against Israel and treat it in a manner no other democratic state is treated, Israel will abandon diplomatic convention and treat foreign governments as domestic critics.
On Monday, after his repeated requests for Germany's visiting Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to cancel his plans to meet with Breaking the Silence and B'Tselem, Netanyahu gave Gabriel an ultimatum. Gabriel could meet with Netanyahu, or he could meet with them.
