The old conventional wisdom was that the United States couldn’t be too pro-Israel for fear of inflaming “the Arab street.”
The new conventional wisdom will have to be that we can’t be too pro-Israel for fear of inflaming “the Western street.”
The Arab street, a hoary cliché of commentary on the Middle East for decades, was a reference to public opinion in the Arab countries, with the strong implication that if we offended it, the result would be massive anti-Western demonstrations and perhaps violence.
