“Yes, it is war. It is terrorism,” he said. “That is why the Scripture affirms that ‘God stops wars… breaks the bow, splinters the spear’ (Psalm 46:10). Let us pray to the Lord for peace.”
-Pope Francis
As the war in the Middle East continues to escalate, we Americans find ourselves at a point of reflection. The support of ‘our greatest ally in the Middle East’ has been viewed as a defense of democracy, Western values, and justice in a region hostile to us [1]. Yet war has come, and over the last year we have been given the opportunity to analyze the actions this ally would take.
The greatest issue we must consider is the nature of the conflict. Up until the recent Iranian retaliation on Israel, this war, has been more characteristic of a genocide [2]. Israel, justifying its actions as defense, repeatedly strikes refugee camps [3], has a history of severing humanitarian aid and basic necessities to Gaza [4], and pushed Palestinians to the border of Egypt [5], pressuring refugees between two irreconcilable forces. For all intents and purposes, Israel’s actions are not characteristic of war, and in many instances mirror terrorist measures [6]. In our rules of engagement, the U.S. refuses to use tactics in any way similar to these, even if such precautions risk American lives [7]. As the standing global hegemon, the U.S. has repeatedly criticized such states that use similar, brutal tactics [8]. So if we are to align ourselves with another power, should we not be even more critical, when their actions are seen as American-sponsored ventures?
Even though Israel’s behavior may seem distant and tangential to American politics, our institutional biases are evident through our excessive media support. When else has the influence of a foreign nation been so blatant in our domestic politics?
It seems like every day another media effort is made to demonstrate how strongly our leadership supports Israel. If it’s not Representative Brian Mast wearing an Israel Defense Force uniform in the halls of Congress [9], then it’s the presumptive nominees for both parties arguing about who is a greater ally to Israel, in their first debate [10], when they cannot agree on virtually any other policy measure. Or if neither of those, it is the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) —an organization fighting to not be classified as a foreign influence since the days of JFK [11]—openly bragging about the weight they hold on elections [12]. Or perhaps it is the more than one-thousand police officers from around the country sent to Israel for training [13] [14].There are thousands of other examples like this which paint an eerie relationship between the U.S. and Israel. What other nation has a bond anything akin to the one Israel maintains with the U.S? Is there an Indian lobby as influential as theirs, a German, British, or even Ukrainian?
Especially since the October 7th attacks of last year, more has surfaced that rings a strange note; from the persecution of our Ivy League for antisemitism [15], the ambiguous federal redefinition of antisemitism [16], internal pressure on journalists covering the war in Gaza [17], to individual US states dictating foreign policy for Israel.
Though we have had a relationship with Israel since 1948, our country’s increased involvement over this past year forces us to consider the following: Where is all this pressure coming from? Why have our institutions and leaders doubled down on their commitment to Israel, in the face of rampant humanitarian atrocities? And why Israel specifically?
But we may not have the luxury of time to reconsider our ally. As the war rages on, it is obvious that it has amped up its harassment campaign against its nemesis in the region: Iran. With the active presence of the U.S., Israel has continued to provoke its neighbors. It claims to be in the interest of rooting out Hezbollah, but it is clearly seeking to escalate the conflict and ultimately neutralize all possible threats in the area—even at the cost of regime change and generations of turmoil. That is why Israel invaded Lebanon, “depopulating villages” as they went [18]. That is why they freely strike Russian airports [19] when Ukraine still has to ask before doing so. And that is why they continue to alternate missile strikes with Iran, escalating the conflict. It seems as though Israel is perpetually in need of defensive systems [20] [21], and the U.S. always has to come to its rescue. Over the past couple of months alone, the U.S. has both mobilized the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system with one-hundred American troops to operate it [22] and deployed multiple Air Force squadrons and American aircraft carriers with an “additional few thousand” personnel to the Middle East [23].
Iran has always been the target. Even before the Iraq war, Israeli officials had been promoting our involvement in Iraq, and especially in Iran [24]. In recent days, U.S. agencies have leaked that Israel has further plans to attack Iran [25], surely with US aid: their prime weapon. So as we look to the coming days, we must seriously reconsider this ally and the depth of this war. Is a state with so much overt, odd influence in our domestic politics for our benefit? And are we willing to wage war, on behalf of this state, in a region that has already drained American blood and ammunition for the last thirty-three years?
Endnotes:
[1] The Editorial Board, “Israel Can Defend Itself and Uphold Its Values,” The New York Times, Oct. 14, 2023.
[2] Alene Bouranova, “Is Israel Committing Genocide in Gaza? New Report from BU School of Law's International Human Rights Clinic Lays Out Case,” BU Today, Jun. 5, 2024.
[3] Nidal Al-Mughrabi, “Israeli strikes in northern Gaza cause scores of casualties, doctors say,” Reuters, Oct. 19, 2024.
[4] Jomana Karadsheh, Lauren Izso, Eyad Kourdi, Kareem Khadder, “Red Cross says at least 22 killed as strike hits displaced civilians in Gaza as Israel expands operations,” CNN, Jun. 22, 2024.
[5] Patrick Wintour, “Israeli assault on southern Gaza could push 1m refugees to Egypt border, UNRWA chief warns,” The Guardian, Nov. 30, 2023.
[6] Matt Murphy, “What we know about the Hezbollah device explosions,” BBC, Sept. 20, 2024.
[7] “The Efficacy and Ethics of U.S. Counterterrorism Strategy- John Brennan,” Woodrow Wilson Center, April 30, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4mCEXi5v4. See transcript here: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/event/the-efficacy-and-ethics-us-counterterrorism-strategy
[8] The White House. “Remarks by President Biden on the United States’ Response to Hamas’s Terrorist Attacks Against Israel and Russia’s Ongoing Brutal War Against Ukraine,” October 20, 2023. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2023/10/20/remarks-by-president-biden-on-the-unites-states-response-to-hamass-terrorist-attacks-against-israel-and-russias-ongoing-brutal-war-against-ukraine/.
[9] Sarah Fortinsky, “GOP lawmaker wears Israeli military uniform to Capitol Hill,” The Hill, Oct. 13, 2023. https://thehill.com/homenews/house/4254384-brian-mast-israeli-military-uniform-capitol-hill/.
[10] “Trump says Harris ‘hates Israel’ during debate,” NBC News, Sept. 10, 2024. https://www.nbcnews.com/now/video/trump-says-harris-hates-israel-during-debate-219042885646.
[11] The Institute for Research: Middle Eastern Policy. “DOJ orders the AZC to Register as a Foreign Agent,” The Israel Lobby Archive, accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.israellobby.org/azcdoj/.
[12] AIPAC. “The Largest Pro-Israel PAC in America,” AIPAC PAC, accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.aipacpac.org.
[13] Edith Garwood, “With Whom are Many U.S. Police Departments Training? With a Chronic Human Rights Violator - Israel,” (Blog), Amnesty International USA, August 25, 2016. https://www.amnestyusa.org/blog/with-whom-are-many-u-s-police-departments-training-with-a-chronic-human-rights-violator-israel/.
[14] “U.S.-Israel Strategic Cooperation: Joint Police & Law Enforcement Training,” Jewish Virtual Library, accessed November 13, 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/joint-us-israel-police-and-law-enforcement-training.
[15] “A look at college presidents who have resigned under pressure over their handling of Gaza protests,” The Associated Press, Aug. 15, 2024. https://apnews.com/article/college-president-resign-shafik-magill-gay-59fe4e1ea31c92f6f180a33a02b336e3.
[16] U.S. Congress, House, Antisemitism Awareness Act of 2023, H.R. 6090, 118th Cong. https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/6090.
[17] Jeremy Scahill, Ryan Grim, “Leaked NYT Gaza Memo Tells Journalists to Avoid Words ‘Genocide,’ ‘Ethnic Cleansing,’ and ‘Occupied Territory’” The Intercept, Apr. 15, 2024. https://theintercept.com/2024/04/15/nyt-israel-gaza-genocide-palestine-coverage/.
[18] Nader Durgham and Josephine Deeb, “Israel’s Invasion of Lebanon: What is Happening on the Ground?” Middle East Eye, Oct. 17, 2024. https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israels-invasion-lebanon-what-happening-ground.
[19] Ronny Reyes “Suspected Israeli airstrike hits near Russian airbase accused of housing weapons in Syria: report” The New York Post, Oct. 3, 2024. https://nypost.com/2024/10/03/world-news/suspected-israeli-airstrike-hits-near-russian-airbase-accused-of-housing-weapons-in-syria-report/.
[20] “Iron Dome failed to activate during Hezbollah rocket barrage on Kiryat Shmona,” The Cradle.Co, Oct. 9, 2024. https://thecradle.co/articles-id/27214.
[21] Aamer Madhani and Melanie Lidman, “Iran fires at least 180 missiles into Israel as regionwide conflict grows,” The Associated Press, Oct. 2, 2024.
[22] David Brennan, “Why America's THAAD missile defense deployment to Israel is a 'gamble' in Iran conflict, analysts say,” ABC News, Oct. 17, 2024. https://abcnews.go.com/International/americas-thaad-missile-defense-deployment-israel-gamble-iran/story?id=114845323.
[23] Chris Gordon, “US Sending More Air Force Fighters to Middle East,”Air and Space Forces Magazine, Sept. 30, 2024. https://www.airandspaceforces.com/us-sending-more-air-force-fighters-middle-east/.
[24] Jon Hoffman, “Benjamin Netanyahu Is Pushing for War with Iran,” Cato Institute, Apr. 16, 2024. https://www.cato.org/commentary/benjamin-netanyahu-pushing-war-iran.
[25] Natasha Bertrand and Alex Marquart, “Leaked documents show US intelligence on Israel’s plans to attack Iran, sources say,” CNN, Oct. 20, 2024. https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/19/politics/us-israel-iran-intelligence-documents/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc.