the Jewish people, Israel will make its decisions alone and on its own responsibility and act upon them. We cannot, and will not want to", I added, "delegate the responsibility for such decisions, when required, even to the best of our friends — which 1s you." The US presidents, I note, did not always like this statement — but they respected it. ¢ Inthe same token, I told members of the cabinet more than once — "we must always remember that the US is also a sovereign state. And it expects us to respect its right to form its positions on the issues crucial to it, based on its own interests ". And we have to respect that. ¢ Without derogating from our responsibility to make and execute sovereign decisions — the reality is that there isn't full symmetry here. ¢ Our relations with the US President, the administration, the HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_028902