Tag: Israel–United States military relations

The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex

Ms. CatLeave a comment

Since publication of John Mearsheimer’s and Stephen Walt’s ‘The Israel Lobby’ in 2007, superior public relations has served as the main explanation for the outsized influence that the nation of Israel holds over American politicians. In that telling, AIPAC (American-Israel Public Affairs Committee) and other supporters of Israel built a sophisticated and far-reaching public relations machine that promotes US politicians who support Israel and punishes those who don’t.

The ‘Israel Lobby’ Works for the US Military Industrial Complex – by Rob Urie – 27 June 2024

H/T: xenagoguevicene

An Open Letter to RFK Jr. on Israel/Palestine

Ms. Cat

This article was originally written as a private letter addressed to Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his campaign manager, former Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH). Unanswered since it was sent in early June 2023, it is now published as an open letter.

An Open Letter to RFK Jr. on Israel/Palestine

Related:

Israel’s One-State Reality

When a U.S. president demanded inspections of a nuclear facility in the Middle East (and failed)

The Battle of the Letters, 1963: John F. Kennedy, David Ben-Gurion, Levi Eshkol, and the U.S. Inspections of Dimona

Leading liberal Zionist voices call for ending U.S. aid to Israel

Ms. Cat

The damage Israel is causing to its support base in the United States is becoming more apparent. A very bright warning flare went up this weekend, appearing once again in the New York Times. This time, it was columnist Nicholas Kristof who took a much bolder and far less speculative step than his colleague, Tom Friedman did last week by suggesting that the very heart of AIPAC’s mission—annual military aid to Israel—should be phased out.

Friedman, you might recall, floated the idea that a “reassessment” of the United States’ relationship with Israel might be on the horizon, if not already starting. As I noted, that was meant as a warning to Israel, not a reflection of any actual steps by Joe Biden’s White House to launch a policy process of reassessment. Indeed, as subsequent events confirmed, and as was indicated by the fact that Friedman cited no sources, even anonymous ones, this was the columnist trying to use his column to get Israel to back off because political winds are shifting. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not heed the warning, instead moving forward uncompromisingly on his domestic agenda and misleading the media about his conversation with Biden. Needless to say, that didn’t sit well in Washington.

Leading liberal Zionist voices call for ending U.S. aid to Israel

RFK Jr vows unconditional support for Israel as IDF massacres Palestinians!

Ms. Cat

RFK Jr’s hasbara makes me want to vomit! 🤮 He thinks children are legitimate military target!! 🤬

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. – Major Israel Booster

Before that discussion, Kennedy addressed in the interview his views in regard to the nation of Israel, making clear that he is a major Israel booster. Kennedy started off his comments in the interview by stating, “There’s nobody who’s running for president right now in either party who will be a better friend to Israel than me as president, and nobody who will articulate the moral case for Israel with the same erudition, the same persuasive power as me, because I believe it in my heart, it’s core to the values that I was raised with.” Later in his opening comment of the interview, Kennedy declared, “That friendship with Israel and making the moral case for Israel will be a key part of my presidency.”

Kennedy also declared in his opening comment of the interview that he will try as a candidate “to bring the Democratic Party back to its traditional support of Israel and to explain to my children’s generation the historical context and the moral case for Israel.” At least among the top Democratic Congress leaders — and the top Republican Congress leaders as well, though, devotion to the Israel government seems to be running very high already.

Further argued Kennedy in his opening comment, Israel expends great effort at the risk of its own soldiers to “avoid civilian casualties” in dealing with threats from its adversaries and is not an apartheid state. Later in the interview, Kennedy further asserted that a Palestinian has “much more rights in Israel than in any of the neighboring countries” and that “the best place” and “the safest place” in the Middle East for a Palestinian dissident to criticize his government is in Israel.

Related:

Kennedy: ‘As President, my support of Israel will be unconditional.’

Israeli forces kill two Palestinian teens in occupied West Bank

The shootings bring the number of Palestinians killed this year in the occupied Palestinian territories, which includes East Jerusalem and Gaza, to 202, with 165 of those in the occupied West Bank, said Khan.

31 of those killed are under the age of 18, she added.

West Wants Relationship with Ukraine to Follow the ‘Israel Model’

Ms. Cat
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits the Western Wall, in Jerusalem’s Old City on January 23, 2020 (Shlomi Cohen/Flash90)

The United States and some of its NATO allies plan to increase weapons-sharing and provide additional security guarantees to Ukraine. Polish President Andrzej Duda told the Wall Street Journal that Western leaders were supportive of developing ties with Kiev similar to the relationship Washington keeps with Tel Aviv.

West Wants Relationship with Ukraine to Follow the ‘Israel Model’

Related:

Archived: To Aid Ukraine in Fight Against Russia, Allies Look to Security Model Like Israel’s

Israel isn’t a member of NATO, and the U.S. isn’t treaty-bound to come to the country’s aid. But for decades Israel has enjoyed a special relationship with the U.S. as Washington’s most stalwart partner in the Middle East, and it is also the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. foreign assistance since World War II.

U.S. assistance to Israel is currently outlined in 10-year agreements, and the most recent one commits Washington to providing $38 billion in military aid between 2019 and 2028.

Zelensky did say that he wanted Ukraine to be a “big Israel”. /sarcasm