The US-Israel relationship, which once seemed to be an unbreakable bond between friends, democracies, and strategic allies, is slowly dissolving.  While Iran races undeterred towards acquisition of nuclear arms, Hamas smuggles in a record number of high-powered weapons, the PA leader glorifies terrorists, and the world succumbs to the power of Middle East  oil and the cancer of anti-Semitism, will the U.S. leave Israel to hang alone? The stakes for Israel, for its relationship with the US, and for the future of the Middle East are high in 2010.

1. Will Israel be able to deter attacks from Arab states by maintaining its qualitative and quantitative military edge? Israel had formerly expressed concern that the United States has recently signed major arms deals with Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates. The Arab states are already the world's top arms buyers. The shipments are to include anti-ship and antitank missiles as well as so-called smart and bunker-busting bombs. According to the Pentagon report to Congress in December, no arms deal with Israel have taken place since President Barack Obama took office.

2. Will the U.S. impose sanctions in time to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons? In a March 26 letter to the President, top House Democrats said that engagement with Iran must be “serious and credible, but it cannot be open-ended.” They gave the Iranians “at most a few months” to halt production. The administration’s year-end deadline has passed just after the Times Online reported that intelligence documents show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. How long should sanctions be delayed? How long is too long?

3. Will the U.S. keep its agreements with Israel? To convince Israel to take the risk of unilateral disengagement in Gaza, the U.S. gave assurances that the United States would "do its utmost to prevent any attempt by anyone to impose any other plan other than the 2002 Roadmap,” under which the “Palestinians must undertake an immediate cessation of armed activity and all acts of violence against Israelis anywhere, and all official Palestinian institutions must end incitement against Israel. “ Moreover the U.S. assured Israel that any final status agreement will include “defensible borders” and that the U.S. is “strongly committed to Israel's security and well-being as a Jewish state. “ The U.S. also acknowledged that “any final status agreement will only be achieved on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities [Israel’s major population centers] and that a return to the armistice lines of 1949 was unrealistic.”  Will the U.S. demand less than promised from the Palestinians and more than promised from the Israelis? Keeping past promises will determine whether Israel can trust the U.S. with future ones.

4. Will the U.S. demand fairness from the U.N. and tie American funding to the cessation of U.N. agencies whose only mission is the condemnation and isolation of Israel?  How will the U.S. respond to repercussions of the infamous Goldstone Report, which has defined all Israel defense as crimes and all Israelis who serve or served in the military as potential criminals for prosecutions?

5. Will the U.S. pressure Israel to accept dangerous concessions for a two-state solution with the Palestinians? In the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority government demands unprecedented concessions as a pre-condition to any negotiations. In Gaza, Hamas is still committed to the destruction of the entire Jewish state.  If the U.S. wants to act as an honest broker, will the Palestinian government (both governments) be expected to undertake specific, demonstrable obligations (not just vague promises) and accept the existence of the Jewish State?

The Jews and Israel have often been the canary in the coalmine, so the world is watching. When we vote this year, our enemies will note if they should fear us and our friends if they should trust us. The stakes are high not only for Israel, but for all U.S. and all democracies.