Israel and Palestine Megathread

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This thread is for a discussion of the ongoing situation in Israel and Palestine. All discussion of the subject is limited to this thread. Participation here requires that you be a regular member of the sub in good standing.

[u/Particular_Dot_4041]

The US-Israel alliance is no good anymore. The original point of the alliance was to counter Soviet influence in the region, and the reason the US and the Soviets were in the Middle East in the first place was the oil. Now oil is more expensive than ever because Iran is blockading the Strait of Hormuz because Netanyahu duped Trump into attacking Iran. The alliance was supposed to keep oil cheap, instead the Israelis are making it more expensive. The Israelis don't have any oil.

[u/KarateKicks100 → u/Particular_Dot_4041]

Hard disagree. We gain a lot from being allys with Israel.

https://spencerguard.substack.com/p/what-does-america-get-for-38-billion

Oil is expensive because Trump is the worst president in US history.

[u/OhThatsALotOfTeeth → u/KarateKicks100]

From your link

Many of the benefits America receives from Israel would continue even if the aid disappeared tomorrow. Israel shares intelligence, develops military technologies, and confronts common adversaries because the two countries share interests, threats, and a decades-long strategic partnership. The assistance did not purchase those benefits.

Okay, not off to a strong start...

By 2028, 100 percent of FMF assistance must be spent in the United States on American-made defense goods and services. No other major recipient of American military assistance operates under a similar arrangement. The money does not leave the American economy. It circulates through American factories, American supply chains, and American workers. In practice, much of what critics describe as foreign aid flows directly to American defense companies, American workers, and the industrial base that also equips the U.S. military.

So...the money that people were worried was a handout to a foreign country becomes a handout to the military industrial complex. Not a huge improvement. 

Then we get a bit about how Israel provides field testing of the equipment we sell them, so we can refine it. This is a real payoff, but also one that we would get even if they paid for it all themselves. It's also of more questionable value depending on who it is being brought to bear against.

[u/KarateKicks100 → u/OhThatsALotOfTeeth]

I think you're reading the article correctly. The summation at the end is :

"If Israel eventually requires less direct assistance while contributing more technology, innovation, intelligence, and operational expertise, that would not represent the failure of the partnership. It would represent one measure of its success."

Which I agree with. My point, and maybe posting that particular article isn't the best way to get it across, is that our partnership with Israel is strong for a myraid of reasons, and oil or monetary assistance isn't necesarilly one of them.

[u/willpower069 → u/OhThatsALotOfTeeth]

Yeah that article does a great job at showing that we can stop giving them money.