Being Israel's Friend

American politicians love to talk about how their support (or America's support) for Israel is "ironclad." If I were an Israeli, this would trouble me somewhat since ironclads were a product of Civil War era engagements. I would feel better if America's support for Israel were titanium-alloy plated or something of the sort. Alas, as an American who supports Israel, I don't see that America's actions are titanium-plated, iron-clad, or even cloth-covered. What I see when I observe America's relationship with Israel is a big brother who lets a little brother run amok doing things that are ultimately detrimental to that little brother's well-being, while simultaneously failing to stick up for that little brother when he does actually need help.

What do I mean by this? For starters, being someone's ally (or someone's friend for that matter), doesn't mean letting them do anything they want to their own detriment. As a friend, it is my job to tell a friend when he or she is engaging in destructive behavior. America seems incapable of telling Israel that the ongoing expansion of settlements in the West Bank is isolating Israel from the global community. Sanctions and boycotts are already coming in from Europe, and as the population of occupied Palestine grows, Israel will be forced into making the decision between existing as a Jewish state or existing as a democracy. Many in the global community already view Israel as an apartheid state, and while many in the US may scoff at that notion, Israel is undeniably moving in the direction in which a Jewish minority exercises control over a Palestinian majority in what is already viewed by the global community (including the United States) as occupied territory, NOT part of Israel.

While the US tacitly condones Israel's expansion of settlements - while paying lip service to the idea of a two state solution, but doing next to nothing to pressure Israel into stopping it's self-destructive encroachment of Palestinian territory - the US has failed to intervene in Syria, a major arms conduit through which missiles flow from Iran to Hezbollah before often being lobbed into Israeli cities.

I've been making the case for humanitarian intervention in some form in Syria for months now, long before chemical weapons were used. But there is a more realpolitik reason to intervene, and that reason is our alliance with Israel. The end of Assad could well mean a decreased flow of weapons from Iran into Lebanon, destabilizing and hopefully delegitimizing Hezbollah. This is a good outcome for Israel, and that nation has already launched strikes in Syria to ensure that weapons are not misplaced or worse.  Helping end the Ba'ath party's rule over Syria not only ends a slaughter and hopefully paves the way for a more stable Democracy next door, but it will eliminate the arms pipeline from Iran to Hezbollah whose fighters, by the way, are fighting and dying next to Assad's forces in order to preserve his regime.

But rather thank taking touch and necessary action - telling Israel what it needs to hear and more proactively ending the bloodshed in Syria - the US allows Israel to pursue its own destruction internally while doing nothing to ward off external threats. If this is what "ironclad" support for Israel looks like, then it's pretty safe to say that the US does not have the best interests of Israel in mind.

I do stand by Israel. I believe in that Israel. I believe in America's alliance with Israel, but that doesn't mean that we should stand idly by while a group of right-wing religious extremists lead Israel country the path of losing its Jewish identity, nor does it mean that we should avoid engagement when Israel could truly use our help. Right now we are failing to meet either of those benchmarks for true friendship, and I would argue that Israel will be worse off as a result. If we are really Israel's friend, we will push them to do what they need to do and give them support when it is needed.