The first, and most important reason behind America's support for Israel is because Israel is a secular democracy. As Americans, we strongly value democracy. We have a history of supporting countries that embrace democratic values and are threatened by non-democratic forces. We are not giving Israel any special treatment. We supported South Korea during the Korean War, Western Europe after WW2, democratic nations in Latin America during the cold war, and many other nations throughout our history that have been in similar situations. We are currently trying to bring democracies to countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, and encouraging democratic forces in countries like Iran and Russia. America founded modern day democracy. So it is no surprise that America supports the only functioning democracy in the Middle east. Democracy is a value that Americans of all faiths and no faith can appreciate.
Next is the fact that Israel promotes America's interests in the middle east. The single most important factor behind the $2.6 billion in annual military and economic aid is the strategic importance of having Israel as an ally. While Israel is not our only ally in the middle east, they are definitely our most important ally. Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia are also our allies. However only one country in the middle east is guaranteed to support us if we ever need it. That country is Israel. While the benefits to Israel of a close American/Israeli partnership are rather obvious (security, a voice in the U.N., substantial aid money) America's benefits in this relationship are not as obvious. Although Israel did not supply any troops for the war in Iraq, they have helped us in other ways. It would have taken forever to bring all our weapons, tanks, and other war equipment to that region to begin the war in Iraq. (I am not trying to defend the Iraq war in this commentary, I am only using it as an example). The way we had everything ready so fast for the war was we kept the military equipment from the first gulf war in Israel. Israel is much closer to Iraq then America is, therefore it is much easier to deploy everything from Israel to the Iraqi border then from America. What other country in the middle east would allow us to store military weapons on their territory? Despite many countries in the region that hated Saddam, none would have allowed us to do that. The Israeli intelligence agencies, such as the Mossad, regularly help America gather intelligence in the middle east. When Sadaam Hussein was captured, American forces found a briefcase with many documents written in code. Israeli intelligence helped American forces decipher many of the coded documents in Saddam's briefcase, which led to the arrest of hundreds of insurgents. The U.S. and Israel have had many joint military and intelligence operations together as well as counter-terrorism cooperation. Israel has been the victim of terrorism since 1948, so they have an excellent counter-terrorism capability which America has learned a lot from. With the recent trend of suicide bombings in countries like England and Iraq, Israel has been more then happy to train America and the rest of the world on how to deal with the difficult nature of suicide bombers. With this new threat of terrorism we might have to "pacify" one of the countries in that region to ensure our safety. (I'm NOT talking about Iraq). There can be no guarantee that our other allies in the middle east will allow us to use their land to do what we need to do to secure our interests. The only country in the middle east that we know for sure we can count on to help us protect our interests in the middle east is, and has always been, Israel.
We hear all the time about the U.S. sticking up for Israel or defending Israel at the U.N. from one sided resolutions. But has Israel done anything to deserve this support from the U.S.? Lets take a look back at history. Before the state of Israel was established in 1948, there was a clear presence of a Jewish community in Palestine. This community had a certain level of autonomy. In world war 1 the Jews in pre-state Israel backed the British and Americans (ally's side) while the Ottoman Empire (Arabs) backed the Germans. The allies were impressed with these Jews for fighting on their side and that (among other reasons) resulted in the British (who controlled Palestine at the time) making the Balfour Declaration, which called for the creation of a Jewish state. This declaration was adopted by the league of nations and many other governing bodies. In world war 2, the Jews living in current day Israel fought again with the Americans and the British against the Germans while the Arab/Muslim world fought staunchly with the Nazis. After world war 2, the Soviet Union was the first country to recognize the state of Israel. The Soviets offered them backing, and protection should any Arab nation ever decide to attack. Nonetheless, during the cold war Israel began a partnership with the U.S. and agreed to back the U.S. against communism in the region. This infuriated the Soviets, and caused them to turn against Israel, and begin backing the Arabs instead. Israel gave up the protection of the worlds only other superpower at the time to be on our side during the cold war. And now with the war an terror, Israel is clearly on our side. Being a victim of Islamic terror since 1948 (and even before that) Israel staunchly sides with America in the war on terror. So with every major world conflict from world war 1, world war 2, the cold war, and the war on terror, Israel (or the Jews living in pre-state Israel) have taken America's side even when they didn't have to. No other country in the world (besides Britain) has taken our side in every major world conflict. The Arabs, on the other hand, have consistently fought against America in all those major world conflicts. Not one Arab country or peoples (with Saudi Arabia as an exception) has taken our side in even one of those world conflicts.
America's support for Israel is not, and should not be unconditional. Should Israel ever lose its secular, democratic values, or should Israel ever stop backing the U.S., than America should cut Israel off completely. America's support for Israel is not the result of a lobby group, like AIPAC, since for every one "pro-Israel" lobby group there is at least 2 other "anti-Israel" lobby groups working in Washington. And while there have been negatives in the U.S./Israel relationship, such as the Lavon Affair, and the espionage incident in 1985, can you think of any other nations we consider allies that we haven't had any problems with at one time or another? America's support for Israel comes from shared values, strategic interests, and a history of friendship and cooperation between the two countries.
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Location: Unspecified
Comment:
Very true and logical statement, let's not forget that the only friend that US can count on during the times of need is Israel, and that by itself can justify all the help that we give to them. Who can remember that during the first Golf war, that we were trying to save the Saudis skin, not one statement of support, acknowledgement, or appreciation was issued by Saudi government, for the fear that the population will not like it !!!
Name: Mandy
Location: Illinois
Comment:
This article is nicely done. Very informative for somebody like me whose knowledge in this area is not that great. I liked the way you justified your point of view and without being biased or one-sided. Keep up your good work!
I admire your knowledge and interest in this area.
Name: Craig Johnson
Location: Washington State
Comment:
Your Israel apologist argument is weak, ie 'for every one "pro-Israel" lobby group there is at least 2 other "anti-Israel" lobby groups working in Washington" (numbers are not equivalent to power and influence) to just name one. The ulitmate costs of our unwavering support Israel far outweigh the benefits, in my opinion. The time is coming where maybe an open, honest debate on U.S. support of Israel can occur and if is the best you can do, then hopefully, they'll be a much needed change.
On the positive side, thanks for offering an argument to support Israel. There is a dearth of information available and most in politics and the media seem to avoid this topic like the plague.
Response:
hello. i am not an "israel apologist". if you read the article carefully and completely you would see that i also mentioned "America's support for Israel is not, and should not be unconditional. Should Israel ever lose its democratic values, or should Israel ever stop backing the U.S., than America should cut Israel off completely"
about the lobby groups, it is true that aipac is the biggest and the most powerful than any of the others. however, i am simply pointing out that "anti-israel", and "pro-arab" lobbies exist as well so no one can use the "lobby groups" as "the only reason. plus all the polls clearly show that the average american citizen approves of our government supporting israel.
www.themiddleeastnow.com/ref/gallupisrael
i have no problems with an "open and honest" debate over our support for israel. i hope the critics of israel start speaking up so their arguements can be heard, and then easily shut down once and for all. and you claim the media under-reports anything that is critical of israel? they also under-report many things anti-arab and anti-palestinians as well. you barely hear on the news about palestinian child suicide bombers. nor do you hear on the mainstream news about suicide bombers planting nails soaked in rat poisen in their belts to maximize injury. the under-reporting on both aspects is not because of a bias to either side, but rather because the american mainstream news media does not go in-depth on many important world issues. they believe ameircans have "low attention spans" and do not want to know what is happening outside of their country. this is a known problem, which i wouldn't mind doing something about.
Name: Melissa Moriarty
Location: Unknown
Comment:
I had a question for Maurice Lavian or anyone who would like to
respond. I appreciated the information Lavian has on this site. My question
is regarding the September 11th attacks. Why was America attacked?
This question is in regards to the line about falsely believing that
America was attacked because of the US support of Israel. I was under the
impression that Osama Bin Laden listed America's support of Israel as
one reason for the attacks. Perhaps it is more of America's lack of
support for the Palestenian State? I am just trying to figure this out and
would appreciate your insight.
Response:
hello. in osama bin laden's official "fatwa" against the United States, he listed 7 "sins" committed by america that warrented the attack. one of them was support for israel. the other 6 were:
the U.S.
* Plunders the resources of the Arabian Peninsula.
* Dictates policy to the rulers of those countries.
* Supports abusive regimes and monarchies in the Middle East, thereby oppressing their people.
* Has military bases and installations upon the Arabian Peninsula, which violates the Muslim holy land, in order to threaten neighboring Muslim countries.
* Intends thereby to create disunion between Muslim states, thus weakening them as a political force.
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_11,_2001_attacks#Motive)
osama belives we are exploiting "arab" oil, we are "interfering" with arab/islamic government to suit our interests, and he is upset that up till 2003 we had our troops stationed in the arabian peninsula (which he considers holy)
osama bin laden and his al qaeda group have attacked many nations that do not support israel, such as saudi arabia, morroco, and indonesia among others.
in fact former palestinian president, yassir arafat, was once quotes saying "Bin Laden never helped us...he was working in a completely different area and against our interests"
source: http://middleeastinfo.net/article1676.html
frankly bin laden could care less what happens to the palestinians. like other arab leaders, he is simply using the palestinians as a proxy to fight israel.
www.themiddleeastnow.com/arabtreatmentofpalestinians
Name: Henry Clifford
Location: Wainscott, NY
Comment:
The question should be framed in terms of whether our support for Israel is in the best interests of the U.S. and contributes to peace in the Middle East.
The Policies and actions of Israel regarding the Palestinians have been declared illegal or immoral by the International Court of Justice, the UN, the European Union, human rights groups in Israel and throughout the world, American and Israeli Jewish historians and journalists, and even some Israeli officials, members of the Knesset, and a former Attorney General.
Our support for Israel has alienated the Arab world, the larger Muslim world and even our friends and allies do not agree with our position. Our blind unbalanced support is not good for America, has eliminated us from the role of honest broker thus preventing a solution to the conflict, has caused tremendous suffering for the Palestinian people and is not even in the best interests of the Israeli people.
Response:
Israel may not be a perfect country, but they are acting the best they can given their situation. no other country in the world lives under constant threat from its neighbors the same way israel does. america understands this struggle. we are not giving israel any special treatment. we offer this same type of support to south korea and Japan, we offered it to western europe during the cold war, and to just about every pro-american democracy which faced a similar threat from a non-democratic force. If we weren't supporting Israel, the arabs would find some other reason to hate us. for example, denmark does not support Israel and look how much the arabs hate denmark just because an independent danish newspaper published cartoons they felt were offensive. was this hatred justified?
i do have some sympathy for the Palestinian people, but i do acknowledge that their suffering is largely their own fault. It is their refusal to recognize Israel's right to exist that has ultimately caused the conflict. Israel has recognized the right of a Palestinian state to exist. the Palestinians refusal to recognize Israel, is ultimately a rejection of U.N. Resolution 181 which called for the creation of Jewish Israel and Arab Palestine. If the Palestinians reject the very resolution which is meant to create their own statehood, i dont see why the U.S. or the world should push for a Palestinian state.