Actually checking notes… 70 years puts us back to the Suez Crisis. That time where Israel took control of the Sinai peninsula as part of some crazy French plan for them and the UK to exert colonial power over Egypt. The US was not informed and was positively livid about the whole debacle, because they were trying to use soft power (funding construction of the Aswan dam) to get Egypt to align with the US (Cold War geopolitics stuff). The US demanded Israel to return the Sinai to Egypt, which they did. Of course the soft power thing didn’t work out, and the US came to believe it was a mistake to demand Israel return the Sinai. When Israel took the Sinai again in the Six Days war the US didn’t demand it be returned after that. After the Yom Kippur war, Israel had Egypt by the balls. Egypt had to choose between making peace with Israel, aligning with the US or losing most it’s army which Israel had surrounded. Egypt chose peace with Israel and alignment with the US and the Sinai was returned once again.
In terms of aid, yes Israel usually gets the most, but notice how Egypt gets the second most? Interesting isn’t it? Almost as if there was an agreement made in 1978 about this.
You see the US wants Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world to be on their side. But it’s a trust but verify kind of thing where they want Israel to get more to make sure Egypt doesn’t do the whole play both sides kind of thing they had a history of doing in the cold war. Not that I blame Egypt for playing both the US and the Soviet Union, it’s just how the game is played. But making the moves the US did to ensure a country won’t change alignment so they can have a war with a historical enemy is part of that same game.
If not for the US being a giant stinking golem Israel would have been destroyed decades ago.
Aid from the US represents somewhere around 20% of Israel’s military budget. Losing that aid would hurt, but Israel’s economy could make up for that shortfall and no longer being required to buy from the US military industrial complex would mean they could seek out cheaper alternatives. Israel has the technological capabilities to develop their own weapons systems, which would mean less money leaving their economy. Pretty much all of the aid the US sends is ultimately returned to the US economy now, that wouldn’t be a stipulation of an Israeli weapons program that the US isn’t contributing to.
Suffice it to say Israel would continue to exist without US support. But since the agreement between the US and Israel is mutually beneficial it will continue. No need to delve into the over a century old Protocols of the Elders of Zion for an explanation. If actually take the time to read how the relationship formed to (no, it didn’t just happen for no reason 70+ years ago) you won’t be going down weird antisemitic rabbit holes anymore.
Soldiers who specialize in wearing diapers and shooting children are not much help.
Proves my point about how weird ideas steeped in antisemitism limits how much Israel can help the US with conflicts in the Arab world.
Actually checking notes… 70 years puts us back to the Suez Crisis. That time where Israel took control of the Sinai peninsula as part of some crazy French plan for them and the UK to exert colonial power over Egypt. The US was not informed and was positively livid about the whole debacle, because they were trying to use soft power (funding construction of the Aswan dam) to get Egypt to align with the US (Cold War geopolitics stuff). The US demanded Israel to return the Sinai to Egypt, which they did. Of course the soft power thing didn’t work out, and the US came to believe it was a mistake to demand Israel return the Sinai. When Israel took the Sinai again in the Six Days war the US didn’t demand it be returned after that. After the Yom Kippur war, Israel had Egypt by the balls. Egypt had to choose between making peace with Israel, aligning with the US or losing most it’s army which Israel had surrounded. Egypt chose peace with Israel and alignment with the US and the Sinai was returned once again.
In terms of aid, yes Israel usually gets the most, but notice how Egypt gets the second most? Interesting isn’t it? Almost as if there was an agreement made in 1978 about this.
You see the US wants Egypt, the most populous country in the Arab world to be on their side. But it’s a trust but verify kind of thing where they want Israel to get more to make sure Egypt doesn’t do the whole play both sides kind of thing they had a history of doing in the cold war. Not that I blame Egypt for playing both the US and the Soviet Union, it’s just how the game is played. But making the moves the US did to ensure a country won’t change alignment so they can have a war with a historical enemy is part of that same game.
Aid from the US represents somewhere around 20% of Israel’s military budget. Losing that aid would hurt, but Israel’s economy could make up for that shortfall and no longer being required to buy from the US military industrial complex would mean they could seek out cheaper alternatives. Israel has the technological capabilities to develop their own weapons systems, which would mean less money leaving their economy. Pretty much all of the aid the US sends is ultimately returned to the US economy now, that wouldn’t be a stipulation of an Israeli weapons program that the US isn’t contributing to.
Suffice it to say Israel would continue to exist without US support. But since the agreement between the US and Israel is mutually beneficial it will continue. No need to delve into the over a century old Protocols of the Elders of Zion for an explanation. If actually take the time to read how the relationship formed to (no, it didn’t just happen for no reason 70+ years ago) you won’t be going down weird antisemitic rabbit holes anymore.
Proves my point about how weird ideas steeped in antisemitism limits how much Israel can help the US with conflicts in the Arab world.