wesheltonj
AH legend
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All nations do indeed usually act in their self-interests. Israel is no different.
For a whole lot of reasons, but primarily because we and a destitute Great Britain were the last ones standing in the West following the Second World War, the US assumed the collective guilt of the West for not fully appreciating the precarious position of the European Jew. We thus became the first nation to recognize the the State of Israel following its founding and have been its guarantor of sovereignty since.
However, a very strong case can be made that from a pure national interest perspective, we get very little from that relationship. That doesn't mean it isn't the right thing to do, but it does mean that Israel is far more a burden to the US than an asset as we pursue national interest objectives across the Islamic World. I think it is safe to say where we have been successful it has been in spite of that relationship rather than because of it.
I would agree that the Abraham Accords were probably the most meaningful effort to rationalize relations in that part of the world since the conclusion of WWI when Turkish Hegemony was broken. It is truly unfortunate that Kushner did not have another four years to conclude that work.
But yes, the Middle East is a complex place. I spent a year at the Defense Language School in immersive training in the Arabic language; six months at the Foreign Service Institute learning the Arab peninsula dialect; a year at the John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center for Arab Foreign Area Officer training, a year in lieu of the US Army War College on fellowship to the Walsh School of Foreign Service, Contemporary Arab Studies, Georgetown University; and a career working in the Middle East. I am still learning.
In dealing with any foreign country, it is irrelevant what we "feel" about the leadership of that nation. Netanyahu acts in what he and his ruling majority perceive as the interests of the state of Israel. Because of our role in the founding of that nation, we offer that leadership enormous latitude in exercising the pursuit of those national interests. But before we get too hard on the current administration, it is worth remembering that the United States government determined when the Suez crisis (1956), the Six Day War (1967), and Yom Kippur War (1973) would end - not Israel.
And there’s a lot of folks who believe that Israel sent a message to the USA firing on the USS Liberty.
H-007-1 Attack on USS Liberty
H-Gram 007, Attachment 1 Samuel J. Cox, Director NHHC 8 June 2017 USS Liberty’s mission was to collect intelligence on activity along the north coast of the Sinai Peninsula. Although Liberty was a U.S. Navy ship with a mostly U.S. Navy crew, its mission was in support of National Security...