US to Israel: We’re not BFFs Anymore
July 11th, 2008 by 
CA Editors
Stephen Frankola sends: As Israel and Iran have a cute little flexing competition, the United States needs to do something that’s truly in its own interest - take a neutral stance.
Since its arguably-unfair inception as a state, we have delivered about $100 billion dollars in direct support to Israel, in the form of a nice fat check written to them each year. Even now, we give Israel billions of dollars a year in economic support, even though they are more developed than most economies.
Even looking past the cost, unquestioned and unwavering support for Israel has been the biggest foreign policy blunder since the Vietnam era. Arab peoples resent our support of their enemy; instead of being irrelevant to the situation, the United States becomes the enemy. I’m not going to completely blame the terrorist attacks of the past two decades on our support of Israel; that would be irresponsible to the families and victims of those attacks. But it would be much more difficult for radical leaders to stir up hatred of America if America is largely absent from their lives, not supporting their sworn enemy.
Last night, reports of Israel flying jets over Iraq pushed oil to a new all-time high; the previous day’s price increase of $5 can’t really be attributed to much else than general war fears. Many other Western nations have condemned Iran’s show of force, but only the United States found it necessary to add “Israel, we’ll watch your back.”
We have helped Israel not adhere to the international standards that other countries must abide by. Israel is often thought to possess nuclear weapons, but we wouldn’t officially know - no one inspects their nuclear facilities. Also, the US has used it’s seat on the UN Security Council to veto and sweep away the human rights violations that have been brought against Israel during its handling of its Palestinian conflict.
My point is simply that Israel should not enjoy the benefits of a best friendship with the United States if they continue to take advantage of it militarily and economically. I would argue that the relationship has no mutual benefit; in fact, the relationship has been detrimental to US foreign goodwill, especially in the Middle East. Oil is outrageously expensive, and we have been attacked by radical Arab groups, and our pockets have been slowly emptied. What have we gained?
If Israel wants to flex, or even to actually take out targets in Iran - which, is probably not out of the question - the US just shouldn’t be involved. Israel has the strongest per-capita military in the world, and one of the best air forces of any country; they can use their own forces (supplied by or bought with US foreign aid) to wage their own war.
Israel, you’re a bully. We, the United States, claim to target other bullies all across the world, but we hold your hand, supply you with your weapons, and then promise to protect you, if you should ever get yourself into trouble that you can’t handle. That has created a volatile, undesirable situation for the United States - and ultimately, we care about us, NOT you. Fight your own war if you really want to, but don’t come crying to daddy if things get bad.
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Disclaimer: I am in no way anti-Semitic, as critics of Israel often face accusations of. I have had close Jewish friends all of my life. I have no problem against the existence of the state of Israel; it’s just time to stop hurting ourselves by supporting it with the vigor that we currently do.
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July 11th, 2008 at 3:46 pm
It’s a tough gig being critical of Israel, but I must disagree with you that we have gained nothing through our support in Israel. If we had not supported Israel as strongly as we have throughout the years, perhaps there would have been yet another great diaspora. It can be quite a challenge to be surrounded by openly hostile countries.
Anyways, I feel that support of Israel is part of a larger plan to maintain stability in the world and in that region. If we stopped supporting Israel tomorrow, I bet they might act differently, however, you MUST consider the fact that other Middle Eastern countries would act differently as well knowing the U.S. was neutral. This might create MORE turmoil in the region, this might give Iran and others the perfect opportunity to end Israel for once and all. Perhaps Israel, knowing it could not count on the U.S. for support and fearing even more an existential threat, would lash out with its nuclear weapons?
I think its far safer to continue supporting Israel.
July 12th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Gents, College Analysts is a blog about finance not politics. This post does not discuss stocks/investing and it’s extremely difficult to see why it belongs here (assuming your goal is to build and maintain a serious finance site). The Middle East issue is extremely inflammatory and there exists a very real potential that it’ll touch a nerve and get a lot of people pissed off, especially considering that it discusses the issue on a superficial level (sorry Stephen, you can’t have a meaningful input on such complex situation in eight short paragraphs).
This comment is not meant to reflect my agreement or disagreement with conclusion of the posting but rather explain that I was unpleasantly surprised to find it here and express my hope that no purely political pages will make it on CA again.
July 12th, 2008 at 3:59 pm
I disagree with Mr. Frankola, but it is hard to even respond to his post since it is so rambling and disoriented. I don’t mean to be rude but it also shows a profound ignorance of the political situation in the Middle East.
All alliances are built on mutual interests, if the U.S. foreign policy establishment did not feel that it was in the interests of the U.S to ally with Israel, then we would not. There are some who say that the so called “jewish lobby” keeps us chained to Israel, in detriment to our own interests (I am not accusing Mr. Frankola of saying this). This is nonsense and distorts the influence of a tiny minority. Certainly the ‘jewish lobby†could be out bid in the lobbying effort by the other side with its vast petrodollars resources rolling in.
His other points:
“As Israel and Iran have a cute little flexing competition, the United States needs to do something that’s truly in its own interest - take a neutral stance.â€
Keeping Iran from becoming a nuclear power is not just between Israel and Iran, it is something that threatens the world. Indeed it is our Sunni Arab allies in the Middle East who are pushing us to do something about it. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf Emirates are more afraid of a Shiite Nuclear power than we are. If Iran gets the bomb, it will upset the balance of power in the Middle East and cause an arms race.
“Last night, reports of Israel flying jets over Iraq pushed oil to a new all-time high.â€
I doubt that the U.S would let Israel use Iraqi airspace to practice in, especially since we are in a critical part of negotiating a force status agreement with Iraq. This would truly not be in our interests since the Iraqis would be very upset if Israel used its airspace to attack Iran.
“Arab peoples resent our support of their enemy; instead of being irrelevant to the situation, the United States becomes the enemy.â€
Iran is not an Arab country. Egypt and Jordan, two Arab countries, have signed peace treaties with Israel. Syria, a third Arab country, is in the midst of secret peace negotiations with Israel. If the population of an Arab nation, that is predominately Muslim, hates us as you state, and I am not agreeing with that, it is probably because they view us as a Christian nation, not because of the actions of a tiny minority that is no long term strategic threat to its religion.
“Oil is outrageously expensive, and we have been attacked by radical Arab groups, and our pockets have been slowly emptied. What have we gained?
To blame Israel for high oil prices is insane. I have heard people blaming speculators, hedge funds, China, the fall of the dollar, but never Israel.
“Only the United States found it necessary to add “Israel, we’ll watch your back.â€
This is more of an election year slogan, in sixty years of Israel being a state, not one U.S. soldier has died defending Israel.
July 13th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
To respond to a few noteworthy criticisms:
“Last night, reports of Israel flying jets over Iraq pushed oil to a new all-time high.â€
That statement was released, whether or not actual Israeli jets flew into Iraq; I actually think it may have been later acknowledged as untrue. Nevertheless, the rumor was circulated, accepted as fact, and affected the worldwide commodity, foreign exchange, and equity markets.
“Arab peoples resent our support of their enemy; instead of being irrelevant to the situation, the United States becomes the enemy.â€
Your response to this statement correctly identifies that the United States, at an official level, does indeed have good relations with most, if not all, Arab countries. However, those diplomatic ties do not prevent extremists like bin Laden from being able to find support in those countries. (Saudi Arabia, arguably our most important and committed ally, also is probably the biggest hotbed of disdain at the individual level.)
“in sixty years of Israel being a state, not one U.S. soldier has died defending Israel.”
That may indeed be true, but you ignore the indirect effects of supporting Israel; I think it’s undeniable that it has hurt diplomatic relations with other countries in the region. More importantly, as I said before, it hurts our efforts to win “hearts and minds.” Do you remember videos of Palestinian children flashing Vs for victory on 9/11 while celebrating in the streets? I do.
And, I apologize if the initial post was a little short, incoherent, or unsubstantial, but I do disagree with and take offense to your accusation of “profound ignorance” of the situation in the Middle East. I understand the importance of promoting peace and stability in that region, and the emotional effect of supporting a democratic (if you ignore the treatment of Palestinians as sub-citizens) regime. But as we have pushed billions of dollars, as well as technologies, hard goods, intelligence, and other intangible and tangible supports to Israel, you still didn’t really refute the question I asked in the original post:
What have we gained from this immense support?
Tomas,
I shared that sentiment that I wasn’t sure if the post was topic-appropriate, but it was indeed posted. I think it is somewhat relevant, if just because of the recent effects on commodity and equity markets as this situation continues to play out. However, I agree that it was much more political than investment-oriented.
July 13th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Doug, Tomas, and Eric,
Stephen did suggest that I not run this post, because it is only tangentially related to investing, and this is certainly an investing site. I talked him into it, because I thought he raised a good point about our foreign policy, which is becoming increasingly relevant to international finance as the Middle East sees more and more capital inflows.
Ultimately, the responsibility for running the article is mine. Your feedback is appreciated, and in the future I’ll be particularly careful about anything politically oriented.
Best,
James
July 14th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Well it certainly is not easy being a critic of Israel in the US, it seems you grossly discounted the value of Israel to the US.
1) Israel destroyed Saddam’s nuclear reactor, Osirak, in 1981. If Iraq had nuclear capabilities, who knows what he would have done to any of his neighbors.
2) Israel is America’s only true ally in the middle east, sharing with us valuable intelligence and counter-intelligence information on their hostile neighbors and our enemies.
3) Our sworn enemies in the middle east would not love us anymore if Israel was never established. Their hatred is idealogical.
4) Whether or not the creation of the modern day state of Israel was fair or unfair is not really important. I don’t buy either side’s argument of biblical right of land. The fact is that the arabs have repeatedly attempted to attack Israel, but Israel has successfully defended itself and earned its right to the land. It might not be attack and conquer (like most countries throughout history) but more like defend and conquer.
5) As to the treatment of Palestinians, it is a horrible situation. No decent human being deserves to be oppressed or starving, but, and this is a big but, Israel can do just short of anything it sees fit to protect the freedoms of its people. Unfortunately, the government has not found a way to 100% protect its people (i.e. daily missiles in Sderot) while allowing freedoms for the Palestinians. But, one thing is for sure, if the borders were open, Israel would see a massive increase in terrorist attacks. This is so because the number of attacks significantly decreased since the latest military increase.
6) To bring some investing into this post, Israel has the most advanced economy of the majority of its majors (I guess the UAE being the one more advanced but that is questionable since I am not an expert on this) and this si extremely beneficial to the US. Many Israeli companies list their companies on our stock exchanges and vice versa. Israel’s technology sector is one of the fastest growing and most advanced in the world. Countless innovations in warfare, computers, defense and engineering have been mutually appreciated by us.
Whoever wins the next presidency must accept the fact that a bad relationship with Israel creates a black hole in the middle east. I believe John Mccain knows this, but I am not sure Obama does.