Should America continue to have strong ties to Israel?

1. 88

   RJ Schwartzposted 6 years ago

   Should America continue to have strong ties to Israel?
   
   President Trump is currently visiting Israel and Prime Minister Netanyahu and the American media will certainly offer their opinions on his trip; both positive and negative reports are certain to be written.  Many people feel Israel is America's closest ally while others feel our relationship jeopardizes peace in the Middle East.  What's your opinion and why?  Please remember that regardless of how you personally feel about the heritage of anyone, this is a public question and answers should be professional.
   
   

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2. 0

   ValKarasposted 6 years ago

   I think it's a basic truism of human coexistence that---as soon as you start taking sides you certainly create friends, but also enemies. It may sound like a paradox to some, but I think that America would have friends everywhere the moment she stopped "making" friends, but instead started focusing on the problems at home, investing money on her people instead on wars and on playing a cop to this world.
   
   So, I don't see anything wrong about America being friends with Israel---but then, not in this political scenario in which only Israel is benefitting from it. A self-oriented America would not need "allies at strategically important locations" if there was no need for something like "strategies".
   
   Beyond self-orientation every thought of a "threat" would be purely paranoid. You don't need strategies when you leave everyone alone. People don't hate you for being different than they are---they hate you for something you are doing to them.
   
   Therefore, in my mind America being friends with Israel should be of the same character as her friendship with the tiny country of Luxemburg, or any other for that matter.

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   1. 49

      bradmasterOCcalposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      The difference is that Luxemburg is not in the ME, and there is no military ties, and there are many people in the US that come from Israel and they have been here a long time.
      
      I don't see any reason why we shouldn't have strong ties with Israel.

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3. 87

   MizBejabbersposted 6 years ago

   Yes, but for the right reason. Too many people look at Israel from a religious standpoint and feel like it is their Christian duty to be friends with the people whom they believed birthed their faith. I don't see it that way. What I find reasonable, and I've been told this by a former member of the CIA, is that Israel's Masoud serves as our eyes and ears in the Middle East. That's good enough for me to support our alliance with Israel.
   I don't think we can go on what should be, or what an ideal situation should be, but on what is. None of the Middle Eastern countries are blameless, and neither is the U.S., but as long as ISIS wages a war against "Western infidels", we need a true friend over there. Israel could be said to be the next-closest thing to a friend. If not, then we don't have one.

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   1. 0

      ValKarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Mizbejabbers---Yes, it must be great to have "eyes" to tell us what's going on there. Like, about certain "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq. Million deaths later, we are also an "enemy", don't you think so?

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   2. 87

      MizBejabbersposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      In the case you've mentioned, yes, I think that our involvement in the Middle East that started during GWB's presidency was unnecessary. I was speaking of in general. We have spooks around the world, as do other countries.

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