The US is supporting Israel through what we can mostly all agree is a genocide of the Gazans. Clearly, Biden isn’t a genocidal maniac, yet he’s all in with unwavering support. Why are we doing this? There has to be a logical reason that isn’t just “we want Israel to kill everyone in Gaza and take their land a la lebensraum.”

We know this is an emotional topic, so please be respectful of each other so that we can have open and clear authentic discussion on the matter.

195 points

This alliance allows the US to maintain a stronger foothold in the Middle East and exert hegemonic power via proxy.

This isn’t the only reason, of course, but it’s part of it.

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55 points

And the US wants a foothold in the middle east because oil.

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53 points

Well, that and keeping the USSR Russia and China out

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46 points

I don’t think the US isn’t interested in the oil opportunities in the Middle East, but I think the US wants a foothold everywhere and anywhere across the globe to maintain its position as a global superpower.

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3 points

Also oil.

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11 points

Yes, the US wants that foothold because of oil. It’s not because we wish to become rich off it, it’s because oil is essential to keeping our economy stable. Keeping the region stable, or at least “stable” in America’s best interests, is paramount.

Doesn’t matter what anyone’s opinion on our oil consumption is, even in the face of global warming. At this point in time, we need it.

Without oil our economy plummets and that affects the whole world. And we can’t fix it anytime soon. I’m seeing hope, but it’s painfully slow. FFS, trying to fix this mess bucks the richest interests on the planet. And if we guillotined every one of them, we’d still be in the same place.

I see a lot of talk around here calling talk of the “economy” bullshit, like those numbers only affect the rich, and fuck 'em. Like it or not, we all participate in the economy.

In turn, we’re all hurt if it crashes. And that includes the rest of the world. Anyone here old enough to remember the gas station lines after the Iranian revolution?

And spare me talk of coulda/shoula/woulda. America could have done a dozen things better to avoid all this. We didn’t. And here we are.

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2 points

In case you didn’t notice, many people are in the middle of the crash right now. So yeah, it’s going to suck for everyone, but what are the alternatives?

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45 points

Read a lot of answers and yours is succinct.

Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier, and is located in a critical region for American national security.

~ Alexander Haig

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-1 points

critical region for American national security.

The rest was true but this one is complete BS

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6 points

+Palestinians are not as white and a religious minority on top of it

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5 points

That and Israel wouldn’t hesitate a second before switching sides and allying with Russia and/or China.

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1 point

It also allows Israel and other relugional institutions to influence US politics.

Who is the hegemon, the vassal or the collector?

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90 points

Biden said it himself back in the day, its a foothold in the Middle East, “if israel did not exist we would need to create an israel” im paraphrasing but the clip is on YouTube

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21 points
*

Everyone that understands military doctrine would understand that one of the main purposes of Israel was to act as a staging ground to extend power throughout the middle east. There is also a sizeable voting block of christians that place special emphasis on the formation and continued support of Israel.

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12 points

This is the only correct answer here. Everything else is just uneducated and emotional ramblings.

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5 points

Why do we need a foothold there?

There are oceans between us and our enemies.

Let’s just fucking leave and let them come to us

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3 points

Same reason why Pearl Harbor was a thing. Reaction time, faster reach, strategic location, etc.

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54 points

The US supports plenty of fucked up countries because we gain something from them. In the same way Saudi Arabia supplies us oil, Israel provides an American stronghold in the middle east to operate out of. With the political importance and violent instability of the middle east the US finds Israel a necessity to its ambitions.

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15 points

Let’s be honest, there’s a shit ton of money involved as well. From campaign donations to the military industrial complex, people are getting paid by Israel and jewish persons. They have a powerful lobby and influential people around the nation.

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6 points

Oh and Prilosec is made in Israel I believe.

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6 points

Also worth noting Israel is very advanced with respect to cybersecurity. Considering they provide tools like Pegasus to US intelligence agencies, I’m sure the agencies value this relationship very much.

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1 point

Domestically within USA there are plentiful of issues. These can be seen as opportunities for collaboration & create solutions.

Honest/ Legit Question; Why not refocus efforts, resources, skills with experience on improving their own country in various ways? There are so much value to be gained, instead of utilizing so much resources in other regions/ countries - that don’t welcome them.

Why bother being involved in Middle East, when if they actually work/ utilize similar amounts of resources within their borders, the country as a whole could reach results that would envy others. Isn’t that what patriotism means? There are plethora of opportunities to be gained! But it’s being so neglected.

In transportation, health, education, nature, finances (solving various debts), jobs, scientific explorations, improved overall living, safety, etc…

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49 points
*

They have historic ties and Israel is an important strategic ally in the middle east for the US.

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47 points

The answer is simple and almost no one gets it: The U.S. will NEVER give up a military foothold in the middle east. They will ignore every atrocity Israel commits if it means we have a place to sortie from.

That’s it.

It’s not a religious conspiracy, it’s not about back room money deals.

It’s about military power and our ability to strike anywhere in the world with 2 hours notice.

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9 points

This is the most simple answer and the truth. Not only that, but our hands are generally tied to a fault when it comes to these allies. This is why Biden has had some words to say, but there’s no actual teeth to them. He literally can’t do shit. Any other administration would be the same.

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4 points
*

Well, Trump might do something because he’s willing to break any and all precedents … but the something he does would likely be much worse, impulsive, and generally lacking much forethought.

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1 point

Yeah but that won’t prevent every fuckdamn armchair admiral from weighing in with their wikipedia based knowledge.

The problem is that those trolls are significantly out-shouting the truth.

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0 points

No he CAN do something, he can say fuck you, and let someone else run while he does the right thing regardless of the cost to his career

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2 points

It wouldn’t be the cost to his career, it would be the loss of military access to the most volatile place on the planet.

Do you even bother understanding the concepts you comment on?

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3 points

The U.S. will NEVER give up a military foothold in the middle east.

They will, only once all the oil’s been extracted, which will take some decades yet.

While it’s not a religious conspiracy, there is plenty of religious support from certain christian denominations, on the USA and other countries, because of some weird interpretation of the bible about Israelis getting their “promised land” back.

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-1 points

It’s not only about oil. I mean sure, some of it is but even without oil they’d want military access simply because of how much a hotspot it is.

I already told you this has nothing to do with religion and the fact you believe this means your sources aren’t trustworthy.

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0 points

Oh, you mean that people who use religion to preach support for isreal aren’t real? The pastors in my country that do that during the cults and on TV must be a figment of my imagination, then!

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1 point
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