Israel - What does it do for America?

[Spanish Moss]

Personally, here's my take:

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea - which is clearly bad.  But the biggest problem is that the Israeli lobby in Washington (stemming from their right wing party, Likud) needs to be kicked out of Washington, and America - being far stronger - needs to take the upper hand.

We need to let them know - stop the atrocities perpetuated by the IDF against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, or face us leaving.  They wouldn't risk that, we need to use what power we have to be in the position of power here, not the other way around.

Other than that, we need to work fervently with the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements to do whatever we can to come to some kind of conclusion.

[rwoy]

To be fair, my comment about "a huge Jewish voting block" was meant to be sarcastic.

I asked this question because personally I think it is important for us to always be able to review why we do things.  For example, our strategic alliance with Great Britain.  Any time we have engaged in a conflict Great Britain stands shoulder to shoulder with us.  Over the last 50 years they haven't attacked any of our naval vessels and we don't have any British agents serving life sentences for spying on us.

To say that Israel benefits disproportionately from this alliance is, I would say, an understatement.  Now I'm not suggesting that we walk away from this alliance, but I am saying that it should not be ridiculous for us to question our ally on their behavior towards us.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Some people here are clueless on foreign policy. Radical Jihad/Islam will still hate us even if we dont support Israel. But, keep living in your little fantasy world because that's what it is, a fantasy.

Why do they hate us? Have you ever thought about it? You have no idea what you are talking about. Rust comes only from rain. It does not just happen out of the blue. The same can be said about radical Islam. If a rather large Jewish nation somehow came into creation and conquered America, and treat us like the Israelis treat the Palestinians, then I can easily see radical Baptist suicide bombers on our side attacking them. It’s called blowback. Do you get your worldview from Fox News or something?

[GMantis]

Personally, here's my take:

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea - which is clearly bad.  But the biggest problem is that the Israeli lobby in Washington (stemming from their right wing party, Likud) needs to be kicked out of Washington, and America - being far stronger - needs to take the upper hand.

We need to let them know - stop the atrocities perpetuated by the IDF against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, or face us leaving.  They wouldn't risk that, we need to use what power we have to be in the position of power here, not the other way around.

Other than that, we need to work fervently with the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements to do whatever we can to come to some kind of conclusion.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East (except possibly Turkey) and has nuclear weapons, so the argument about abandoning Israel is frankly ridiculous.

[Link]

To be fair, my comment about "a huge Jewish voting block" was meant to be sarcastic.

Sorry about that.  My bad.  I was just shell shocked that after you asked a perfectly good question that a lot of us should be asking ourselves you were only met with very bizarre answers.  As with most things in politics, just follow the money.  The proIsrael lobby has been pumping millions of dollars into the American political system for a solid half century.  That kind of money buys a lot of bipartisan mindless devotion in DC.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East (except possibly Turkey) and has nuclear weapons, so the argument about abandoning Israel is frankly ridiculous.

I'm sure he concurs with your assessment.  He was probably just inoculating himself against the "You hate Israel" crowd.

[DC Al Fine]

Personally, here's my take:

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea - which is clearly bad.  But the biggest problem is that the Israeli lobby in Washington (stemming from their right wing party, Likud) needs to be kicked out of Washington, and America - being far stronger - needs to take the upper hand.

We need to let them know - stop the atrocities perpetuated by the IDF against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, or face us leaving.  They wouldn't risk that, we need to use what power we have to be in the position of power here, not the other way around.

Other than that, we need to work fervently with the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements to do whatever we can to come to some kind of conclusion.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East (except possibly Turkey) and has nuclear weapons, so the argument about abandoning Israel is frankly ridiculous.

Exactly. The Israelis punch above their weight in the military arena. Most Middle Eastern leaders would be terrified of the Samson Option.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
~ Judges 16:30

I don't think the Muslim Brotherhood are going to risk nuclear holocaust to get the Israelis.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

Supporting Israel serves an important role in our self-image as a nation.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Personally, here's my take:

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea - which is clearly bad.  But the biggest problem is that the Israeli lobby in Washington (stemming from their right wing party, Likud) needs to be kicked out of Washington, and America - being far stronger - needs to take the upper hand.

We need to let them know - stop the atrocities perpetuated by the IDF against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, or face us leaving.  They wouldn't risk that, we need to use what power we have to be in the position of power here, not the other way around.

Other than that, we need to work fervently with the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements to do whatever we can to come to some kind of conclusion.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East (except possibly Turkey) and has nuclear weapons, so the argument about abandoning Israel is frankly ridiculous.

Exactly. The Israelis punch above their weight in the military arena. Most Middle Eastern leaders would be terrified of the Samson Option.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
~ Judges 16:30

I don't think the Muslim Brotherhood are going to risk nuclear holocaust to get the Israelis.

Neither will Iran. That is why we don't need to support Israel or continue funding their expansion across the Middle East.

[SPC]

What is it with weasel words today?  Yeah, some of it might be...just like some of the intel we get from the Brits is accurate.  Or Canada, or our own various intel orgs.  What the hell is your point?

The Brits most recently used their bogus intelligence to manipulate us into a war 71 years ago. Israel is doing it right now.

[Filuwaúrdjan]

The Brits most recently used their bogus intelligence to manipulate us into a war 71 years ago.

uh huh

[Sbane]

We wouldn't be at such odds with the muslim nations if we didn't support Israel so strongly.

Yes you would.

Why do you think America is at odds with Muslim nations around the world?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

Why do you think America is at odds with Muslim nations around the world?

Think you'll find that America is a big player in the Middle East in its own right (for all kinds of reasons that have nothing to do with Israel) and that that sort of thing tends to lead to all kinds of issues, resentments and so on.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

What is it with weasel words today?  Yeah, some of it might be...just like some of the intel we get from the Brits is accurate.  Or Canada, or our own various intel orgs.  What the hell is your point?

The Brits most recently used their bogus intelligence to manipulate us into a war 71 95 years ago. Israel is doing it right now.

Fixed.

[Cory]

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea.

No, it wouldn't.

[dead0man]

What is it with weasel words today?  Yeah, some of it might be...just like some of the intel we get from the Brits is accurate.  Or Canada, or our own various intel orgs.  What the hell is your point?

The Brits most recently used their bogus intelligence to manipulate us into a war 71 years ago. Israel is doing it right now.

I believe the term you war wishers have been saying for the past half-a decade is "imminent".  As in, "Israel attacking Iran is imminent".  Keep wishing.

[The Mikado]

What is it with weasel words today?  Yeah, some of it might be...just like some of the intel we get from the Brits is accurate.  Or Canada, or our own various intel orgs.  What the hell is your point?

The Brits most recently used their bogus intelligence to manipulate us into a war 71 years ago. Israel is doing it right now.

I had no idea that Pearl Harbor was a British false flag operation.

[Spanish Moss]

Personally, here's my take:

We can't abandon Israel, seeing as it would lead to genocide and the driving of any Jews living there into the sea - which is clearly bad.  But the biggest problem is that the Israeli lobby in Washington (stemming from their right wing party, Likud) needs to be kicked out of Washington, and America - being far stronger - needs to take the upper hand.

We need to let them know - stop the atrocities perpetuated by the IDF against innocent Palestinians in the West Bank, or face us leaving.  They wouldn't risk that, we need to use what power we have to be in the position of power here, not the other way around.

Other than that, we need to work fervently with the Israeli and Palestinian peace movements to do whatever we can to come to some kind of conclusion.

Israel has the most powerful military in the Middle East (except possibly Turkey) and has nuclear weapons, so the argument about abandoning Israel is frankly ridiculous.

Exactly. The Israelis punch above their weight in the military arena. Most Middle Eastern leaders would be terrified of the Samson Option.

And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines. And he bowed himself with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead which he slew at his death were more than they which he slew in his life.
~ Judges 16:30

I don't think the Muslim Brotherhood are going to risk nuclear holocaust to get the Israelis.

I do think we need to lay out some ground-rules for the behavior of the IDF in the West Bank.  We don't need Israel, Israel needs us.  We're in the position to do that.