Why Do We Support Israel?
I've never been able to understand the level of US support for Israel. Can anyone give me a decent reason why our government does so so unquestioningly? What possible consequence can rational criticism of the clearly flawed behaviors of a tiny country have on one of the most powerful nations on the planet?
I'm not talking about historical support, the nation's founding. That makes sense. The Holocaust was awful and a whole lot of Jewish people wanted a new place to live other than central and eastern Europe, and honestly, much of the world wasn't particularly keen on a lot of Jewish immigrants. The Zionist movement got them installed in the Middle East and thus was born modern Israel.
I know that Jewish people in the US make up a significant constituency in Florida and a few other states, and I'm also aware of a small group of religious fundamentalists who want Israel to rise again so that the end of the world can come. Beyond these groups, I can't figure out why we've hitched our train to Israel so securely. In spite of Israel's actions, we have far better relations with them than a country like France, who did nothing more than say, "Hey, I don't think it's such a good idea to go attacking Iraq." It just doesn't make sense to me.
I'll use a parallel situation as comparison. 100 years in the future, the US government has been toppled after joining the losing side of a major war. The Lenni-Lenape natives, spread across North America by past aggression from foreign governments, band together and push to be returned to their historical homeland. Through political pressure, and because nobody really wanted them around, they were granted their wish and were installed in New Jersey. Once the Lenni-Lenape nation is founded, its government (strongly supported, financially and militarily, by foreign powers) crushes the resident population, takes their possessions, and forces them into camps. If you lived in Trenton and this happened to you, can you not imagine fighting back? Moreover, if you were the foreign power that had helped create the Lenni-Lenape nation, would you continue supporting them? Following this, a series of border disputes and quick wars creates a nation despised by its neighbors (rightly or otherwise) that becomes more and more insular and dependant on foreign aid (particularly military aid.) Small groups of militants from Atlantic City begin blowing up Lenni-Lenape buses and in response, the government bulldozes neighborhoods. The problem goes on and on and on, with no clear resolution in sight. Aggression, begetting aggression, begetting aggression. Why would anyone continue to support the Lenni-Lenape without question?
I'm not talking about historical support, the nation's founding. That makes sense. The Holocaust was awful and a whole lot of Jewish people wanted a new place to live other than central and eastern Europe, and honestly, much of the world wasn't particularly keen on a lot of Jewish immigrants. The Zionist movement got them installed in the Middle East and thus was born modern Israel.
I know that Jewish people in the US make up a significant constituency in Florida and a few other states, and I'm also aware of a small group of religious fundamentalists who want Israel to rise again so that the end of the world can come. Beyond these groups, I can't figure out why we've hitched our train to Israel so securely. In spite of Israel's actions, we have far better relations with them than a country like France, who did nothing more than say, "Hey, I don't think it's such a good idea to go attacking Iraq." It just doesn't make sense to me.
I'll use a parallel situation as comparison. 100 years in the future, the US government has been toppled after joining the losing side of a major war. The Lenni-Lenape natives, spread across North America by past aggression from foreign governments, band together and push to be returned to their historical homeland. Through political pressure, and because nobody really wanted them around, they were granted their wish and were installed in New Jersey. Once the Lenni-Lenape nation is founded, its government (strongly supported, financially and militarily, by foreign powers) crushes the resident population, takes their possessions, and forces them into camps. If you lived in Trenton and this happened to you, can you not imagine fighting back? Moreover, if you were the foreign power that had helped create the Lenni-Lenape nation, would you continue supporting them? Following this, a series of border disputes and quick wars creates a nation despised by its neighbors (rightly or otherwise) that becomes more and more insular and dependant on foreign aid (particularly military aid.) Small groups of militants from Atlantic City begin blowing up Lenni-Lenape buses and in response, the government bulldozes neighborhoods. The problem goes on and on and on, with no clear resolution in sight. Aggression, begetting aggression, begetting aggression. Why would anyone continue to support the Lenni-Lenape without question?
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You must not live in the US.
'Why do we support Israel?', when you personally do not. Of whom is this "we" you write?
You seem to suggest it is US citizenry and so I am forced to conclude that you are not yourself one of the "we", since you so clearly do not support Israel.
No need to be coy here, friend. You have an agenda, shout it out: Israel = Bad. We get it. Thanks for stopping by.
January 13, 2009 4:36 AM | Reply | Permalink
This is such a typical inflammatory attack against anyone who questions the US government's support of Israel. If you read what I wrote, it was clear that I was referring to federal support, primarily military and monetary that is given without question to a nation whose actions are often questionable at best. Instead, you simply assume that anyone who doesn't throw full, unquestioned support behind Israel in everything is an antisemitic fool.
The only thing that I wrote that I honestly think can be construed as antisemitic would be that governments really didn't want Jewish immigrants, which is pretty much historical fact. It's not something I personally believe, but it's what happened.
If you have any reasonable argument, that is, something beyond a personal attack, feel free to spell it out. Otherwise, you bring nothing to the discussion but anger and accusation.
January 13, 2009 12:07 PM | Reply | Permalink
Were you joking when you wrote this?
If so, this is funny stuff. I might even use it myself.
If not, disregard this comment.
March 12, 2009 2:09 AM | Reply | Permalink
Historically, there are several reasons why we've supported Israel:
-Sympathy for the suffering of the Jews in the Holocaust and maybe also a more general sense of responsibility to help reconstruct what was broken by WWII
-Among liberals, admiration for the collectivist spirit embraced by Israel in its early years and support for the liberation of a historically oppressed people
-Among conservatives and "realists" the fact that Israel was pro-American and therefore a good counterbalance to the sometimes pro-Soviet Arab states
-Generally a sense that Jews were more like us than the Arabs, both because they are largely European and because the Christian religion draws so much from the Jewish religion
Many of the above factors are still relevant--and there's also a new admiration for Israel's toughness among conservative hawks, particularly its toughness against Arabs who many conservatives see as the US's enemy. Primarily, though, I think the almost bizarre level of support for Israel in the US must now be attributed to the influence of pro-Israel lobbying groups and pundits. These lobbying groups and pundits are primarily Jewish, but fundamentalist Christian groups and commentators also play an important role in ensuring our almost fanatical support for Israel.
Given the vigor and devotion of Israel's supporters, I doubt our nation's support for Israel will decline unless something happens that causes the majority of indifferent Americans to see Israel in a negative light.
January 13, 2009 7:34 AM | Reply | Permalink
To be fair, one reason we do and should support Israel is that it's a democracy in a region that hasn't exactly been hospitable to that form of government. I think we should still be more skeptical and that we shouldn't support Israel with no questions asked (as MJ argues, we give them aid, they should be beholden to us, not the other way around) but we shouldn't forget that Israel is both a legitimate democracy and legitimate ally.
January 13, 2009 10:29 AM | Reply | Permalink
The historical support for Israel makes total sense (at least to the extent that Cold War 'logic' made sense) but I have to agree that modern lobbying is what's propping it up now. I guess what really baffles me is that one lobbying group has the level of power that it clearly does over our nation's elections and foreign policy. How does this continue???
Heck, look at Obama's campaign. How many times was he required to say that he was a staunch backer of Israel? How many times was he accused of being insufficiently pro-Israel? It's absurd. Can you imagine someone accusing a candidate of being insufficiently pro-British?
January 13, 2009 12:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm with you, Jason. Though I've sought and found a thoroughly satisfactory answer to the same question, to this day it continues to astound me how vast and unshakeable US support for Israel remains.
I find it somewhat helpful to think of America's carte blanche support of Israel as a sort of political remittance. Many within the Jewish-American establishment feel a deeper sense of loyalty to the land of Israel and its historic associations than they do the US.
March 12, 2009 2:06 AM | Reply | Permalink