Why do we have to support Israel so strongly?

Israel & Palestine Forum

I just want an honest answer. Don't say "because they're our friend" because I'd see it as very one sided, they get all the benefit and we get all the trouble, and don't say "because they're a democracy" because their are plenty of democracies in the world that the U.S. is at odds with, for example, Greece is a very strong democracy, much more democratic than Turkey, yet the U.S. generally sides with Turkey in disputes(probably because Turkey is more aligned with Israel than Greece is, again with Israel?) So what is it, I'm an American, born and raised here, lived here all my life, I don't get it? Why is it so important to agree 110% with everything Israel say's and does, no matter what they do or what laws they break or who they kill? Can somebody give a really good answer without the 2 answers that I don't want to hear?

I don't expect you to get the answer you want because most answers will probably start out with why others or opposing forces are bad, which there's no problem pointing out. But you must be able to point out why your side is so good.

All I'm saying is that 99% of the nations in the world will vote to sanction Israel for some action that is even acknowleded to be a violation of international law, yet the worst thing the U.S. will do is abstain, why? I don't want them destroyed, yet I don't want them getting special treatment either, it's not important to me if they exist or not, but I'm not out to get them, just FORCE THEM to accept being treated LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE, even if you have to do it at the point of a gun. if the U.S. would just get tough with Israel, it would help the middle east situation immensly, and it's ridiculous to act like they're all innocent and don't do anything wrong, because they do plenty wrong, they're not angels, they have HUNDREDS of UN sanctions against them for violations of human rights and international law, and usually 99% of the world's nations acknowledge that, and ONLY ONE nation that I don't need to name again keeps saying "It's OK quit picking on my friend".

World stability.

What? The world would be more stable if Israel was SMASHED IN THE FACE WITH A BRICK and told to sit down and shut up! They are THE CAUSE of world instability. They don't need to be destroyed (although if it happenned I wouldn't care!), but just treated like everything else.

Israel is surrounded by Arabs. They want the Jews gone. Simple as that. Ask yourself why. Would it be in our best interest to have another Syria or Iraq?
Collectively, the Islamic nations rank as the least free, least prosperous, and least enlightened places on earth. One fifth of the world’s population is responsible for over four fifths of the world’s armed conflicts. Look at what the Jews have turned their land into, and people say it would be no big deal if they became another Islamic nation, yet these very same nations are among the world’s most destitute, least free, and most violent.

Think about where the most impoverished people on earth live—those with the least freedoms. How is it that the productivity per capita in Islamic nations is the lowest in the world? Why doesn’t any Muslim country produce a single manufactured product of sufficient quality to sell on world markets? Why doesn’t Islam have a single world-class university or boast of a great advancement in literature or science? Why are freedoms and human rights trampled amongst people who have a different faith ? Why isn’t there a single Muslim state that succeeds as a democracy? Why hasn’t there ever been one? Why is the inverse true in Christian and Jewish countries?

Muslims will protest that between 750 and 850 A.D. they made great strides in science. But even that is misleading, as all they really did was have literate Christian slaves preserve the Greek manuscripts they had stolen from the Byzantines. During this period educated Persians, not Arabs, were in control of Islam. And the timing was crucial. Oral recollections of Muhammad’s savagery and deception had faded, as five generations had come and gone since his death. The Sira (the first written account of Muhammad’s poisonous and destructive dogma), was distributed by way of Hisham’s and Tabari’s manuscripts. Thus Islam’s golden age ended. Fundamental Islam damned Muslims and impoverished their condition.

The Jews also have Biblical rights also, if you believe that, and they have been attacked since, literally, day one. It is a miracle that they are even here. Jordan had the land the Palestinians covet and didn't care to invite them over. Why? No one wants them.
The answer to your question is simple, really. Self preservation.
The world can not afford another Islamic state or nation. Why support something that openly calls for your very destruction? But we are too weak for these harsh views. It is why we let Muslims set up shop right here in our back yard to preach hatred towards us. It is why we are lied to by politicians and the media. As such, millions will die for our ignorance and tolerance. Bet on it!

Great, let them fight it out, I don't want to be dragged down into their muck, I'd rather just be NUETRAL that's all, let's just say that I'd like the U.S. to be as involved with Israel as Australia or Canada is. I've said it before, Israel is like the friend you had that your mother always told you to quit hanging around with because you'll end up in trouble just being with him.

Letting them "fight it out" would probably involve all out warfare in the middle east. Israel has nuclear weapons. If you want nuclear warfare, perhaps you need to be smashed in the face with a brick.

Israel has the nukes, not me, if they use them the rest of the world will need to step in and BURY them. I've had it with Israel, I really don't care, their "existance" isn't worth ANY cost to me. I'm not Jewish and I'm not Arab, I don't care who "wins" I just want out of it completely, even if it means the 2 of them completely killing each other, let it happen...

So you're thought is basically that the U.S. supports Israel, because if they don't Israel will nuke it's neighbors? Then SCREW ISRAEL...Really, the U.S. should turn on them, sanction them and let it be known, if they use nukes, Tel Aviv becomes 20 Hiroshimas.

Our only ally in the middle east? I have no problem with making Arafat MY ALLY and getting out from under the mess that is Israel.

Then on the other hand 300 million Europeans would consider I may be right? Americans aren't the only intelligent people in this world? There's got to be some reason that 99% of the world's leaders constantly sanction Israel and ONLY the US and maybe the UK, stand by them 100%, I guess what you're saying is that in all the world only the US and UK's opinions are valid and nobody else's are?

I don't hate Israel, I just want them to be treated EQUAL to how the Palestinians are treated.

EQUAL, with no advantage to either side in any way.

Somebodies got to support the Palestinians with the Israeli jack booted thugs raining down fire and bullets on their adolescent children daily.

I don't see any support from the Europeans toward the Palestinians either, they simply act as I want the U.S. to act toward the whole situation...NUETRAL and stick it to whichever side violates human rights or international law, YES even if it's Israel doing the violating, then it would be fair all around.

Israel SHOULD BE BASHED for the evil they perpetrate, Saddam, Arafat, Osama, they all get bashed when they do something wrong, to be FAIR, Israel should be bashed when they violate human rights or break international laws...2 things they do often.

Firstly, I'd like to point out NothingSacred that America don't always support Israel.

George W Bush (American President): “Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop.”

George Mitchell (former Senate): “Every American administration, going back to President Carter, and including President Reagan, President Bush, President Clinton and the current President Bush, have opposed the policy of the government of Israel on settlements.”

Jimmy Carter (American President): "We consider these settlements to be contrary to the Geneva Convention, that occupied territory should not be changed by establishment of permanent settlements by the occupying power."

However, it's also very true that America normally support Israel in nearly everthing they do.

The answer lies in the difference between the Arab lobby and the Jewish lobby. Apparently the Jewish lobby is now the fourth most powerful lobby, and the Arab lobby? It sucks.

Bishop Desmond Tutu (winner of Nobel Peace Prize 1984 South Africa):"People are scared in this country to say wrong is wrong because the Jewish lobby is powerful – very powerful.”

In the American press, Jews dominate.

Benjamin Ginsberg (Jewish author): "Today, though barely three percent of the nation's population is Jewish, yet close to half its billionaires are Jews. The chief executive officers of the three major television networks and the four largest film studios are Jews."

Israel Shamir (Russian-Jew journalist): “There are no important media outlets in the U.S. that are not owned or controlled by Jews.”

Here's a great conclusion.

Thomas Moorer (former Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff):"I've never seen a President -- I don't care who he is -- stand up to them [the Israelis]. It just boggles the mind. They always get what they want. The Israelis know what is going on all the time. I got to the point where I wasn't writing anything down. If the American people understood what a grip those people have got on our government, they would rise up in arms. Our citizens certainly don't have any idea what goes on."

Nice to see you back AntiJew. What sucks is not the Jewish Lobby in the US its self hating Jews like yourself. If you hate Israel so much and condone Arab massacres of Jew, why don't you move to the west bank and strap a bomb on AntiJew.

Reposting you post doesn't make it any more worthy AntiJew. Why don't you kill some Jews antiJew like your jew hating comrades in the West Bank and Gaza?

You are the true Nazi AntiJew. You defending murding Jews. You are an enemy of all Jews everywhere. You are the AntiJew.

Bla bla bla. You still use anti-semitic sources and as such you demean this board and everyone reading it. No matter how many times you respost it, it doesn't make your source any less anti-semitic.

Okay then I4E prove one of those quotes wrong, like Merkava did with the fabricated Sharon quote.

If not, then shut up. Put up or shut up.

I don't disagree that any those people said the things they did. I do have a problem with anti-semitic insinuations about Jews domination of the media.


The facts are AntiJew that the stockholders own the media in the U.S. They can hire and fire any CEO if they so choose. Your use of the old anti-semitic canard about Jews dominating the press as if there is something nafarious about Jews in the media is disgusting.

I am proud that Jews are as sucessful as they are and have risen to the top of corporate ladder. You on the other hand use anti-semitism to infer something evil about Jews. Quotes about Jews being billionaires as if there is something evil about that is anti-semitic is anti-semitic. Seems makeing anti-semitic attacks on your fellow Jew is no problem for you is it AntiJew?

I don't agree with any suggestion of a Jewish world plot. I also don't think having lots of Jewish influence in the press is a bad thing. I was just pointing the fact out because it answers the question asked originally.

I don't agree with any suggestion of a Jewish world plot. I also don't think having lots of Jewish influence in the press is a bad thing. I was just pointing the fact out because it answers the question asked originally.

No what you did was post that old canard about Jews controlling the media.

. The title of this thead is Why do we have to support Israel so strongly? You are British and Britain does not support Israel strongly, yet you are posting as if you are a WE as in the title Why do we...

Since you are not an American you should not be posting on reasons why America supports Israel. Jews being in the media has nothing to do with it.

The United States had a special relationship with the Jewish people and its homeland even before the establishment of Israel. Below are some examples of remarks by American Presidents on the subject of Jews and Israel.
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John Adams
I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize man than any other nation. (Letter from John Adams to Thomas Jefferson)

John Quincy Adams
[I believe in the] rebuilding of Judea as an independent nation. (Letter to Major Mordecai Manuel Noah)

Abraham Lincoln
Not long after the Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln met a Canadian Christian Zionist, Henry Wentworth Monk, who expressed hope that Jews who were suffering oppression in Russia and Turkey be emancipated “by restoring them to their national home in Palestine.” Lincoln said this was “a noble dream and one shared by many Americans.” The President said his chiropodist was a Jew who “has so many times ‘put me upon my feet’ that I would have no objection to giving his countrymen ‘a leg up.’”

Woodrow Wilson
The allied nations with the fullest concurrence of our government and people are agreed that in Palestine shall be laid the foundations of a Jewish Commonwealth. (Reaction to the Balfour Declaration)

Recalling the previous experiences of the colonists in applying the Mosaic Code to the order of their internal life, it is not to be wondered at that the various passages in the Bible that serve to undermine royal authority, stripping the Crown of its cloak of divinity, held up before the pioneer Americans the Hebrew Commonwealth as a model government. In the spirit and essence of our Constitution, the influence of the Hebrew Commonwealth was paramount in that it was not only the highest authority for the principle, “that rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God,” but also because it was in itself a divine precedent for a pure democracy, as distinguished from monarchy, aristocracy or any other form of government.

Warren Harding
It is impossible for one who has studied at all the services of the Hebrew people to avoid the faith that they will one day be restored to their historic national home and there enter on a new and yet greater phase of their contribution to the advance of humanity.

Calvin Coolidge
Coolidge expressed his “sympathy with the deep and intense longing which finds such fine expression in the Jewish National Homeland in Palestine.”

The Jews themselves, of whom a considerable number were already scattered throughout the colonies, were true to the teachings of their prophets. The Jewish faith is predominantly the faith of liberty.

Herbert Hoover
Palestine which, desolate for centuries, is now renewing its youth and vitality through enthusiasm, hard work, and self-sacrifice of the Jewish pioneers who toil there in a spirit of peace and social justice.

Harry Truman
I had faith in Israel before it was established, I have faith in it now. (Granting de facto recognition to the new Jewish State—11 minutes after Israel's proclamation of independence)

I believe it has a glorious future before it—not just another sovereign nation, but as an embodiment of the great ideals of our civilization. (May 26, 1952)

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Our forces saved the remnant of the Jewish people of Europe for a new life and a new hope in the reborn land of Israel. Along with all men of good will, I salute the young state and wish it well.

John Kennedy
This nation, from the time of President Woodrow Wilson, has established and continued a tradition of friendship with Israel because we are committed to all free societies that seek a path to peace and honor individual right. In the prophetic spirit of Zionism all free men today look to a better world and in the experience of Zionism we know that it takes courage and perseverance and dedication to achieve it.

Israel was not created in order to disappear—Israel will endure and flourish. It is the child of hope and home of the brave. It can neither be broken by adversity nor demoralized by success. It carries the shield of democracy and it honors the sword of freedom.

Lyndon Johnson
The United States and Israel share many common objectives...chief of which is the building of a better world in which every nation can develop its resources and develop them in freedom and peace.

Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they have a common faith in a democratic way of life.

Most if not all of you have very deep ties with the land and with the people of Israel, as I do, for my Christian faith sprang from yours....the Bible stories are woven into my childhood memories as the gallant struggle of modern Jews to be free of persecution is also woven into our souls. (Speech before B'nai B'rith)

I may not worry as much as Prime Minister Eshkol does about Israel, but I worry as deeply. (February 7, 1968, Memorandum of Conversation with Israeli Ambassador Harman)

When Soviet Premier Aleksei Kosygin asked Johnson why the United States supports Israel when there are 80 million Arabs and only three million Israelis, the President replied simply: “Because it is right.”

Richard Nixon
Nixon asserted that the United States stands by its friends and that “Israel is one of its friends.”

Americans admire a people who can scratch a desert and produce a garden. The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with: guts, patriotism, idealism, a passion for freedom. I have seen it. I know. I believe that.

Gerald Ford
[The American] commitment to the security and future of Israel is based upon basic morality as well as enlightened self-interest. Our role in supporting Israel honors our own heritage.

Jimmy Carter
The United States...has a warm and a unique relationship of friendship with Israel that is morally right. It is compatible with our deepest religious convictions, and it is right in terms of America's own strategic interests. We are committed to Israel's security, prosperity, and future as a land that has so much to offer the world.

The survival of Israel is not just a political issue, it is a moral imperative. That is my deeply held belief and it is the belief shared by the vast majority of the American people...A strong secure Israel is not just in Israel's interest. It's in the interest of the United States and in the interest of the entire free world.

Ronald Reagan
Only by full appreciation of the critical role the State of Israel plays in our strategic calculus can we build the foundation for thwarting Moscow's designs on territories and resources vital to our security and our national well-being.

Since the rebirth of the State of Israel, there has been an ironclad bond between that democracy and this one.

In Israel, free men and women are every day demonstrating the power of courage and faith. Back in 1948 when Israel was founded, pundits claimed the new country could never survive. Today, no one questions that Israel is a land of stability and democracy in a region of tyranny and unrest.

America has never flinched from its commitment to the State of Israel--a commitment which remains unshakable.1

Israel exists; it has a right to exist in peace behind secure and defensible borders; and it has a right to demand of its neighbors that they recognize those facts. I have personally followed and supported Israel's heroic struggle for survival, ever since the founding of the State of Israel 34 years ago. In the pre-1967 borders Israel was barely 10 miles wide at its narrowest point. The bulk of Israel's population lived within artillery range of hostile Arab armies. I am not about to ask Israel to live that way again.2

Since the foundation of the State of Israel, the United States has stood by her and helped her to pursue security, peace, and economic growth. Our friendship is based on historic moral and strategic ties, as well as our shared dedication to democracy.3

For the people of Israel and America are historic partners in the global quest for human dignity and freedom. We will always remain at each other's side.4

George Bush
The friendship, the alliance between the United States and Israel is strong and solid, built upon a foundation of shared democratic values, of shared history and heritage, that sustains the life of our two countries. The emotional bond of our people transcends politics. Our strategic cooperation—and I renew today our determination that that go forward—is a source of mutual security. And the United States’ commitment to the security of Israel remains unshakeable. We may differ over some policies from time to time, individual policies, but never over the principle.

For more than 40 years, the United States and Israel have enjoyed a friendship built on mutual respect and commitment to democratic principles. Our continuing search for peace in the Middle East begins with a recognition that the ties uniting our two countries can never be broken.

Zionism...is the idea that led to the creation of a home for the Jewish people....And to equate Zionism with the intolerable sin of racism is to twist history and forget the terrible plight of Jews in World War II and indeed throughout history (Address to the United Nations, September 23, 1991).

Bill Clinton
Our relationship would never vary from its allegiance to the shared values, the shared religious heritage, the shared democratic politics which have made the relationship between the United States and Israel a special—even on occasion a wonderful—relationship.

The United States admires Israel for all that it has overcome and for all that it has accomplished. We are proud of the strong bond we have forged with Israel, based on our shared values and ideals. That unique relationship will endure just as Israel has endured. (From a letter to Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu on occasion of Israel's 50th birthday.)

America and Israel share a special bond. Our relations are unique among all nations. Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, as a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty, a home to the oppressed and persecuted.

The relationship between our two countries is built on shared understandings and values. Our peoples continue to enjoy the fruits of our excellent economic and cultural cooperation as we prepare to enter the twenty-first century. (Clinton’s reply after Israeli Ambassador Shoval presented his credentials, September 10, 1998).

George W. Bush
We will speak up for our principles and we will stand up for our friends in the world. And one of our most important friends is the State of Israel (Speech to American Jewish Committee, May 3, 2001).

Israel is a small country that has lived under threat throughout its existence. At the first meeting of my National Security Council, I told them a top foreign policy priority is the safety and security of Israel. My Administration will be steadfast in supporting Israel against terrorism and violence, and in seeking the peace for which all Israelis pray (Speech to American Jewish Committee, May 3, 2001).

Through centuries of struggle, Jews across the world have been witnesses not only against the crimes of men, but for faith in God, and God alone. Theirs is a story of defiance in oppression and patience in tribulation — reaching back to the exodus and their exile into the diaspora. That story continued in the founding of the State of Israel. The story continues in the defense of the State of Israel (Address to the National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance, April 19, 2001).

Notes:

1 Remarks in New York City on Receiving the Charles Evans Hughes Gold Medal of the National Conference of Christians and Jews, March 23, 1982.
2 Address to the Nation on United States Policy for Peace in the Middle East, September 1, 1982.
3 Remarks at a White House Meeting With Jewish Leaders, February 2, 1983.
4 Remarks at the Welcoming Ceremony for President Chaim Herzog of Israel, November 10, 1987.


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Sources: Mitchell G. Bard. U.S.-Israel Relations: Looking To The Year 2000. DC: AIPAC, 1991, the American Jewish Committee and the Near East Report.

Excellent post. Thanks

There are always mutliple arguments as to why we support Israel. The first and most obvious one is that they are our allies, and the relationship has mutual benefits.

Of course, many of the people that ask the question to begin with do so because they refuse to believe that Israel is a true ally for whatever reason.

Then there's this simple argument - The United states supports Israel because it brings world stability. I don't know how many times i've posted this, but its the simple truth.

Lets say The United states completely dropped its support of Israel - What would the Arab countries that surround Israel eventually do? The same thing they've done in the past.

The Israeli military could most likely repel any invasion, but what if they couldn't? What is Israel's last resort? Nuclear weapons - about 200 of them.

Do you think a Nuclear war in the middle east is something the US wants?

We don't need to resort to personal attacks.We know your views and we can certainly feel your disdain for AZ through your arguments of facts. When we keep it there, it is not only more professional, it makes ones side more credible and respectful.

Point taken devildog.

As a side bar, I agree when you say that successful Jews in America are not pertinent to this discussion. Good for them. To imply that they control America or the media here, is silly. They are controlled by what controls everything else here- Money.

I read both parts of your argument. If it had been the first thing I'd ever read from you I'd think you were trying to be somewhat balanced. It is not the first thing I've read from you and it is the second part of your argument that is where you are really coming from. In fact the two parts contradict each other don't they. It is my belief that you support the second part of your argument more than you do the first part.

I don't feel at all that its that we 'have to' support them. Israel just happens for one to really be a peacful ally to us. Most also forget though that Kuwait was a very big supporter of the US in this last war against Saddam.

Bottom line is, Israel is the ONLY country in the middle east that is a free democracy (barring the future of Iraq of course). So its blatantly obvious why Israel gets bashed so much in the middle east.