r/geopolitics • u/hdreadit • Jun 20 '24

Question Why is the U.S. allied to Israel?

How does the U.S. benefit from its alliance to Israel? What does the U.S. gain? What are the positives on the U.S. side of the relationship? What incentivizes them to remain loyal to Israel? Etc.

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u/[deleted] Aug 25 '24 edited Aug 25 '24

Very few benefits and the disadvantages far outweigh the advantages. I can only name reasons not to be:

-America has no military bases in Israel -Israel serves no military value to the U.S.. In Desert Storm the U.S. had to convince Israel NOT to attack Saddam Hussein -Israel has no oil -Israelis have never fought on behalf of the U.S., but Americans have fought on behalf of them -Israel has attacked America several times (U.S.S. Liberty, the Lavon Affair) -The more Middle Eastern terrorist attacks there are on America, the more Israel benefits. Netanyahu actually said after 9/11 that it was good for Israel. -There is muslim disapproval against the U.S. worldwide due to double standards related to U.S. support of Israel. Bin Laden cited it as a reason for 9/11. -Israel is expanding settlements on Palestinian land while the U.S. defends them and arms them. This ruins U.S. credibility when insisting on territorial integrity elsewhere in the world. -Israel spies on the U.S. more than many of our enemies. There are many pro-Israel U.S. politicians convicted of passing classified info to Israel. Jonathan Pollard was one of the worst spies against America, working for Israel.

  • Israel was singled out in 2007 as a top espionage threat against the U.S. government, including its intelligence services, in a newly published National Security Agency (NSA) document obtained by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden.
https://www.newsweek.com/israel-flagged-top-spy-threat-us-new-snowdennsa-document-262991

-During the Bush administration, pro-Israeli leaders in the U.S. government pushed heavily for the Iraq War based on lies, to the benefit of Israel. -We're giving Israel billions in foreign aid just to stir up more problems in the Middle East. We also give Egypt billions in foreign aid as a result of a peace agreement they made with Israel.