On US – Israeli Relations

The Gaza war has driven a rather rare wedge between Israel and the current US administration. While the U.S. is supportive of the goal of decimating Hamas following the atrocities inflicted by them on October 7^th, Israel’s seemingly disregard and unconcern for the growing casualties and the dire straits of thousands of innocent Palestinians, a large portion of which are women and children, has outraged a good portion of Americans. Our government’s repeated entreaties to conduct the war in a more targeted way and facilitate aid shipments to the desperate and forsaken people of Gaza seem to fall on deaf ears.  

P.M. Netanyahu recently stated that he was, in fact, also doing America’s work since Hamas is also an avowed enemy of America. Of course, he is right, but why does Hamas (and Hezbollah) hate America as much as they hate Israel? No one asks that question. It should be clear to all that Israel would be unable, or unwilling, to continue its oppressive policies against the Palestinians without the substantial financial, military and political support it has enjoyed from the U.S. for decades. We are complicit, maybe indirectly, but clearly complicit in their policies.

We should also recognize that these terrorist organizations owe their very existence to Israel and its policies in the occupied areas. Hamas came together as a dogmatic, take-no-prisoners, resistance organization in 1987 at the First so-called “Intifada”, an uprising against Israeli oppressive occupation policies, which started out as a civil disobedience movement but then turned violent with many casualties on both sides. Hezbollah started out as an organization to resist the first Israeli invasion into Lebanon in 1982 when Israel occupied a large part of southern Lebanon for 18 years. Israeli policies have created these resistance entities, many of which have turned extremely violent, uncaring, and out of control.

Israel is a longtime ally of America and I think we will always have its back – – and we should. But allies aid one another and protect each other’s national interests. Our national interests seem to be getting the short end of the stick.

–              – – – Just the view of a common man.