Why Is Israel So Important to the United States?

[Warhammer]

Excuse my ignorance. I really want to know.

 

[SV Fan]

1. Strategically it's in a great spot for the US in terms of Defense

2. Lots of people with Money in America are part of AIPAC.

3. Military Industrial Complex(see point 1)

 

[Thundercrack85]

That's a good question, with a complicated answer.

There's a few reasons.

It's really the only state in the Middle East, asides from possibly Kuwait, that likes the United States. Unfortunately, supporting Israel has cost the US the trust of most Arab nations.

Israel is also a Western nation. They're essentially a European state. Ergo, Americans relate much better to them.

Israel is a Jewish state, and there is a large, influential Jewish population in America.

And then there's the Christian thing. A lot of Protestants believe that Israel has to exist in order to usher in the second coming of Christ.

 

[Napoleon]

From what I know, I think it's because Israel serves the U.S.'s interests in the sense that it's a buffer zone between them and Islamic countries that they see as potential threats.

 

[Taarna]

1. Strategically it's in a great spot for the US in terms of Defense

2. Lots of people with Money in America are part of AIPAC.

3. Military Industrial Complex(see point 1)

I could add more.

4 ) It's the lone democracy in the Middle East with western like laws and values

5 ) It's also target #1 for Terrorist types, geographically located at ground zero, so it makes sense for the USA to be on good terms with them. They fight our fight.

6 ) Close business ties ( non-military )

7 ) A spin-off of point #1. Close defense ties and a hedge against a radical leader in the Middle east who might some day obtain nuclear weapons.

8 ) If something major happened, Isreal I think is our most trusted ally, which should not be confused with the most powerful ally.

9 ) Religious reasons for Catholics and Jews

 

[SV Fan]

8 ) If something major happened, Isreal I think is our most trusted ally, which should not be confused with the most powerful ally.

I hate this talking point, England or Canada might disagree(and unlike Israel they don't beg us for money). I can probably list a bunch of other countries in Europe as well, hell I'll probably even add Mexico

To me the "Israel is America's #1 Ally" is nothing more then a Fox News/Republican talking point, hell even Netanyahu realizes this and makes sure he says #1 ally in the Middle East

 

[SV Fan]

Wow. Your hate for religious people is really showing there.

There is some truth to that statement, but I think it's more of a case the money men pushing the fundies into that direction of belief then the fundies pushing the party to believe that.

It should be pointed out that AIPAC has given this guy alot of money

 

[Webfoot Hero]

There is some truth to that statement, but I think it's more of a case the money men pushing the fundies into that direction of belief then the fundies pushing the party to believe that.

A lot of reasons given earlier were plenty good and explanatory but he went to an overly angry one that shows an inability to talk politics without taking overly emotional jabs at one side or group.

 

[Horhey]

Expired....

 

[hippie_hunter]

8 ) If something major happened, Isreal I think is our most trusted ally, which should not be confused with the most powerful ally.

How so? Last time I checked they constantly spy on us, they deliberately meddle in our political affairs, they act like a petulant child on the most simple of criticisms by the US government, our support for them has fueled the hatred of Islamic extremists towards the United States, their actions throughout the Middle East have been a serious detriment to our interests in the region, they stay on the sidelines in our military operations in the region, and does not comply when we ask them to make serious overtures towards the US-led Palestinian peace process. If anything, I would say they're one of our most useless allies.

 

[Horhey]

How so? Last time I checked they constantly spy on us, they deliberately meddle in our political affairs, they act like a petulant child on the most simple of criticisms by the US government, our support for them has fueled the hatred of Islamic extremists towards the United States, and does not comply when we ask them to make serious overtures towards the US-led Palestinian peace process.

That's because, for some reason, they don't believe Washington really supports the so called "peace process":

US vetoes UN resolution on Israeli settlements

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U.S. vetoes U.N. resolution declaring Israeli settlements illegal, CNN, February 18, 2011

The United States vetoed Friday a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have declared Israeli settlements in the West Bank illegal.

If Obama opposes Israeli settlement activity, why did US veto UN vote? Christian Science Monitor, February 18, 2011

A United Nations resolution condemning Israeli settlements, which the US vetoed Friday, put the US in a difficult position at a time when Arabs are rallying for freedom and democracy.

UN Ambassador Samantha Power: US opposes Palestinian moves to statehood, Associated Press, April 2, 2014

U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Samantha Power told a House panel on Wednesday that the U.S. opposes all unilateral actions that the Palestinians take to statehood. She says there are no shortcuts to statehood, and that any unilateral actions could be "tremendously destructive" to the peace process.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had promised at one point to suspend Palestinian membership applications to United Nations agencies and international conventions. Israel, in turn, pledged to release 104 long-held Palestinian prisoners during the talks, which were to last until late April. But in a surprise move Tuesday, Abbas signed letters of accession to 15 international conventions, saying this was a response to Israel's failure to release the last of four groups of prisoners by the end of March.

US: We won't support Palestinian UNSC resolution on an Israeli withdrawal

Day after Jordan submits draft to United Nations Security Council, US says won't show support for it.

The US on Thursday said it plans to veto a Palestinian UN Security Council resolution setting a three-year timetable for Israel and its security forces to withdraw from the West Bank.

“We have seen the draft. It is not something we would support,” US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

There is no peace process. Its a charade. Always has been.

 

[SV Fan]

How so? Last time I checked they constantly spy on us, they deliberately meddle in our political affairs, they act like a petulant child on the most simple of criticisms by the US government, our support for them has fueled the hatred of Islamic extremists towards the United States, their actions throughout the Middle East have been a serious detriment to our interests in the region, they stay on the sidelines in our military operations in the region, and does not comply when we ask them to make serious overtures towards the US-led Palestinian peace process. If anything, I would say they're one of our most useless allies.

Wow you dislike them more then I do. lol

Way I view the relationship is they are like a brother or cousin, sure we have a common bond that ties us together but it doesn't mean we best buds.

 

[Webfoot Hero]

Wow you dislike them more then I do. lol

Way I view the relationship is they are like a brother or cousin, sure we have a common bond that ties us together but it doesn't mean we best buds.

I basically view them as the least objectionable option in the area where there aren't a lot of good options. I'd say the US has a better option in Jordan as opposed to Israel or Saudi Arabia.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Wow you dislike them more then I do. lol

That's putting it lightly.

Way I view the relationship is they are like a brother or cousin, sure we have a common bond that ties us together but it doesn't mean we best buds.

I view the relationship as a parasitic one. Take a guess which one I view as the parasite.

 

[Schlosser85]

Israel is an apartheid racial supremacist state.

 

[Marvolo]

Excuse my ignorance. I really want to know.

They arent. Some in the US just have an over inflated opinion about Israel's value. If it wasnt for Israel's self-serving influence in Washington we'd have kicked Israel to the curb long ago.

For the record I dont mind Israelis in general. Its just the current regime in power that I despise. Netanyahu and his whole warmongering criminal posse need to **** off. Ungratrful ****heads. Without our money and defenses Israel would be less than nothing, but they dont seem to realize or appreciate just how much they need the US. Im hoping one day the US lets them have a taste of what life without the US as an ally is really like.

 

[Warhammer]

So to gather a collective opinion of this thread, Israel is our ally solely so we can keep a close eye on the Middle East. And that notion is underlined by a misplaced sense of preserving Western ideals as well as an unspoken responsibility to protect "God's chosen people."

Sounds f***ing stupid.

 

[Schlosser85]

The so-called Christian Right believes Israel needs to exist for Armageddon to happen.

Which leads churches across America to support Israel no matter what, with complete and utter moral indifference to its apartheid treatment of the Palestinians.

 

[Pink Ranger]

So to gather a collective opinion of this thread, Israel is our ally solely so we can keep a close eye on the Middle East. And that notion is underlined by a misplaced sense of preserving Western ideals as well as an unspoken responsibility to protect "God's chosen people."

Sounds f***ing stupid.

To be fair, the pro-Palestinian movement is almost equally noxious. I'm not sure if it's a big thing in the USA, but here, the BDS (boycott, divest, sanction) movement against Israel has its tentacles in everything. You can't do **** with a progressive organization in Canada without some one-issue activists from the BDS movement showing up and trying to ram their agenda through. It almost made me want to leave my church over it.

 

[Horhey]

Israel is an apartheid racial supremacist state.

With continued U.S. military and political support:

A Brutally Frank Jimmy Carter Calls Out Israel on Permanent Apartheid, Juan Cole

In an interview with the U.K.‘s Prospect magazine, former President Jimmy Carter is brutally frank in saying that all hope for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict has ended. “At this moment, there is zero chance of the two-state solution,” he said, according to journalist Bronwen Maddox.

That judgment is widely shared and not so controversial. It is what he said next that ruffled feathers in Israel: “The Netanyahu government decided early on to adopt a one-state solution … but without giving them [the Palestinians] equal rights.” In this sentence, he accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of having pursued, upon his election in 2009, a deliberate policy of relentlessly annexing and colonizing the Palestinian West Bank, ensuring that it will end up as part of Israel. At the same time, he said, Netanyahu conspired to ensure that the 4.2 million Palestinians under Israeli occupation remain stateless and without rights.

You can't blame the lobby. This has been U.S. policy since long before AIPAC existed.

 

[DrCosmic]

The so-called Christian Right believes Israel needs to exist for Armageddon to happen.

Which leads churches across America to support Israel no matter what, with complete and utter moral indifference to its apartheid treatment of the Palestinians.

This.

 

[herakles]

Israel is an apartheid racial supremacist state.

Oh and Turkey is a bastion of equality.

 

[Schlosser85]

Oh and Turkey is a bastion of equality.

Who the hell said anything about Turkey

 

[herakles]

Who the hell said anything about Turkey

Everyone in the region have various civil right violations.

Turkey is a US ally in the region and have a horrible history of committing genocide (Greeks, Armenians, Assyrians, and Kurds) but few non Greek liberals bash them.

Israel has been under constant attack since 1948. Hamas hasn't exactly stopped their attacks. I agree that there are some serious issues but to give 100% blame to the Israelis is foolish.

Just recently has Jordan because a reliable US ally in the region. Israel has been one since 1948.

 

[SV Fan]

Just recently has Jordan because a reliable US ally in the region. Israel has been one since 1948.

The main problem I have constantly pushing this idea that Israel's is America's #1 ally(beyond the fact I would put a few other countries ahead of Israel in that regard) is it really doesn't do us or Israel any favors. It basically says we are favoring their views over other countries.

The way politicians use that talking point gleefully though is ridiculous