Even before Tuesday's blue tsunami doused Capitol Hill and lapped up on the White House steps, the U.S.-Israel relationship fell into disarray.
asserted
relationship → douse → disarray
"We were giving them $4 billion," Donald Trump said Tuesday morning, "but it gets cut off at the end of the year."
asserted
it → give → year
"Why should we suffer the slings from lunatics like an [Michigan Democrat Abdul] El-Sayed when they don't need it?" he asked.
asserted
he → suffer → it
Wednesday morning, J.D. Vance claimed that the midterm became a rout because 2024 Trump voters were disaffected by the Iran war, cost of living increases, an abandonment of America First, and the relationship with Israel.
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voters → claim → Israel
Failures of this magnitude have many causes, and the finger-pointing is already going at full tilt.
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pointing → have → tilt
If Israel's critics have their way, however, America's problems will get worse.
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problems → have → way
Some Americans oppose foreign aid in toto.
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Americans → oppose → toto
Others believe that the aid is only useful as a source of leverage, and since it has not stopped the Jewish state from shooting back at its enemies, it should be scrapped.
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it → believe → enemies
Screeches emanate from the fever swamps that the funds Israel receives reveal some kind of dark hold the Jewish state has over Washington.
asserted
state → emanate → Washington
These arguments range from wrongheaded to unhinged.
asserted
arguments → range → ?
Israel is the largest recipient of defense aid in terms of dollars, but other countries host tens of thousands of U.S. troops.
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countries → host → troops
Paying for some of Israel's purchases of our military equipment has promoted U.S. interests in the region without putting nearly as many Americans in harm's way.
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Paying → pay → way
Israel's American critics fundamentally fail to understand their own country's interests.
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critics → fail → interests
Since Franklin D. Roosevelt met Saudi monarch Abdulaziz Ibn Saud in 1945, the United States has sought to prevent any other power from dominating or destabilizing the Middle East's energy reserves.
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States → meet → reserves
This has been a core U.S. interest whether we were exporting oil or needed imports, because stable oil markets are critical for a functional global economy that benefits Americans.
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that → export → Americans
For its part, Israel does not want to be dominated by any of its neighbors, so it too opposes aspiring regional hegemons.
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it → want → hegemons
The two have worked closely together for decades because of this confluence of geopolitical interests, more than anything else.
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two → work → anything
Washington did this not because of Holocaust guilt or scheming Shylocks, but because of Israel's strength.
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Washington → do → strength
The strategic partnership only took root after Israel became too powerful to ignore.
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Israel → take → root
During the Cold War, Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger realized they could use Israel as a lever to pry the Soviets out of the Middle East.
uncertain
they → realize → East
Nixon prized allies who could handle smaller adversaries on their own, and the Jewish state proved more than capable of doing that.
uncertain
state → prize → that
But Israel was socialist and therefore poor, so at first it needed significant amounts of aid for the partnership to achieve its full potential.
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partnership → need → potential
Without Israel's strike on Saddam Hussein's Osirak reactor in 1981, the United States might have faced a nuclear Iraq 10 years later.
uncertain
States → face → Iraq
The 2007 strike in Syria prevented the nation's civil war from turning into a nuclear nightmare.
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strike → prevent → nightmare
Israelis and Americans have fought all kinds of Islamist terrorism side by side.
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Israelis → fight → side
Some Americans on both sides of the aisle want to blame Israel for the floundering campaign against Iran.
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Americans → want → Iran
But as Trump made clear on Wednesday, his concern about the "death to America" crowd acquiring nuclear weapons has to do with preventing an attack on Washington, not Tel Aviv.
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crowd → make → Washington
Israelis rightly fear a nuclear Iran too, which is why the IDF was a capable partner during the fighting.
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IDF → fear → fighting
Ironically, Israel is exactly the kind of ally the America First crowd claims to want.
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crowd → claim → ally
It has the same enemies as the United States, sustains a military that complements American power, and tries to take care of as much of its own affairs as possible without involving U.S. forces.
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that → have → forces
Many Americans who are not sympathetic to Trump’s views also want to reduce our involvement in the Middle East, which is not feasible without relying more heavily on the Jewish state.
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which → want → state
The competition with China for global technological leadership is fierce, and Israel is a world leader in a variety of fields, including cybersecurity and biotechnology.
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Israel → include → cybersecurity
When U.S. policymakers gather allies and partners to stay ahead of America's enemies, the Israelis are at the table.
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Israelis → gather → table
The relationship has taken different forms while still benefiting both countries.
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relationship → take → countries
Transitioning from aid to joint partnerships could be appropriate.
uncertain
Transitioning → transition → partnerships
Earlier this year, Benjamin Netanyahu stated that American aid to Israel should eventually come to an end as Israel grew wealthier.
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Israel → state → end
But there is a difference between helping a friend grow more self-reliant and abruptly cutting off 20 percent of an ally's defense budget in the middle of a war.
asserted
friend → be → war
The Aporia
