There’s no alternative to the alliance with the United States. But support from ordinary Americans and the GOP means it doesn’t have to sacrifice its security to please Biden.
The relationship between Israel and the United States has frayed since the start of war against the Hamas terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip. Credit: FOTOGRIN/Shutterstock.
The Biden administration wants us to believe two contradictory things at the same time. Depending on the circumstances or the audience to which President Joe Biden and senior members of his foreign-policy team are addressing, they’re either committed to supporting Israel and in favor of eliminating Hamas. Except when they’re not.
In just the last week, Biden pledged at a Holocaust memorial ceremony that he would always stand with Israel and never forget what the Hamas terrorists had done on Oct. 7. A day later, he flipped the script.
In an interview with CNN, as he’s done repeatedly in recent months, he adopted some of Hamas’s talking points about Israel indiscriminately killing civilians. He said that if it invaded Rafah—Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza—“I’m not supplying the weapons.” The alleged motive for this stand was to prevent Palestinian civilians from being killed, even though the United Nations has accepted that the casualty figures Washington has been citing are not credible. This would essentially mean that Hamas’s use of human shields would give it impunity for being held accountable for its crimes.
Biden flip-flops
That raised the possibility of a complete arms cutoff to an ally at war against a genocidal foe that—previous statements notwithstanding—the administration doesn’t want to see wiped out. Making good on this threat, a shipment of bombs was not sent to Israel as part of an effort to intimidate Jerusalem into backing off and letting Hamas survive. And when Republicans proposed a bill in the House of Representatives that would essentially force Biden to send the weapons to Israel that the United States had already promised, the president threatened to veto it.
Much like the U.S. assistance that Israel received when Iran launched missiles against it last month, Biden would appear not to want to leave the Jewish state completely defenseless but also doesn’t want to give it the ability to win wars against its foes or be able to ensure its security.
All of this raises some important questions. Is Biden merely pursuing a vision for Israel’s security that doesn’t include a decisive victory over Hamas in order to pave the way for a theoretical and entirely fantastical hope for peace in the future? Or is what we are observing a slow-motion betrayal of the Jewish state in which America undermines the alliance in stages, rather than all at once, placing it and U.S. interests in the region in grave danger? And how much of what the administration is doing is mere political virtue-signaling intended to aid the president’s faltering re-election campaign?
A toxic yet irreplaceable ally
Administration apologists and their critics can make arguments about how to characterize the situation. But no matter what the conclusion, the mere fact that these questions have to be asked makes it clear that Israel is, at best, locked into a relationship with a superpower ally that cannot be relied upon at present. Even if one is prepared to believe Biden’s protestations about caring about Israel, his political situation has compromised his administration’s willingness to be a faithful ally. Much of his party’s leftist base is ideologically opposed to the existence of the Jewish state and increasingly indifferent to antisemitism. That means the political juggling act the president is attempting to pull off is a gift that keeps giving to Hamas and its Iranian backers, as well as being deeply harmful to Israelis.
Israel has little choice but to go into Rafah. Allowing Hamas to survive—and thereby win the war that it started with an orgy of murder, rape, torture and wanton destruction—would strike a potentially fatal blow to the country’s ability to deter attacks. Indeed, it would almost make certain that Hamas would be able to make good on its pledges to repeat its Oct. 7 crimes over and over again.
But no one, including those who believe that the Biden administration’s damaging stands should impel Israel from seeking more self-sufficiency in terms of arms production, should take the question of Israel’s isolation lightly. While it might be tempting to contemplate seeking help elsewhere, there is no substitute or alternative to the U.S. alliance.
Biden’s betrayal
While Biden was initially supportive of Israel’s efforts, the surge in anti-Zionist and antisemitic agitation on the political left since the Hamas massacres has convinced the White House that a pro-Israel policy could cost the president the votes of many in the Democratic Party come November. That encouraged a Biden foreign-policy team of Obama administration alumni that was already hostile to Israel and still eager to appease its Iranian backers to oppose an outcome in Gaza that would eliminate the terrorists. The result has been a gradual escalation in threats of an arms cutoff that would hamstring the IDF campaign. It would also make a future effort to push Hezbollah terrorists back from Israel’s northern border, which has been rendered uninhabitable by the firing of rockets and missiles from Lebanon, difficult if not impossible to carry out.
Biden’s turn against Israel is about more than just arms and ammunition, or even the pressure he’s exerting to force Netanyahu to accept a prolonged ceasefire with Hamas without even getting all the hostages (including five Americans) back. The threat that Washington won’t veto Palestinian statehood or sanctions against Israel at the United Nations also puts Jerusalem in the position of a vassal state with no control over its own fate.
This ongoing campaign has understandably made many Israelis question the future and value of an American alliance that right now seems predicated on Washington holding the Jewish state’s security prisoner.
That dilemma leads to two questions that Israel’s government has to ask itself. Can Jerusalem do anything to lessen its dependence on Washington? And is there an alternative to the alliance with the United States that would give Israel at least some of the benefits that it derives from the current arrangement?
The answers to those queries are a qualified “yes” and an emphatic “no.”
It’s true that Israel can and should increase its manufacturing capacity with respect to arms and ammunition. The last seven months of combat against Hamas have again proved that waging war is an expensive business. The prolonged conflict has strained Israel’s ammunition reserves, as well as its ability to maintain its anti-missile defenses like the Iron Dome. That has given the Biden administration the leverage to second-guess and attempt to micromanage Israel’s post-Oct. 7 offensive to eradicate Hamas.
But Israel is not currently in a position to manufacture major weapons systems like warplanes or anti-missile defenses on its own. That is mostly the result of a consistent U.S. policy of seeking to discourage or prevent Israel from doing so. This is partly motivated by a desire to protect American arms manufacturers; almost all of the assistance is spent in the United States, so it’s as much an aid program for the U.S. arms industry as it is to Israel. It’s also partly done out to keep Israel dependent on its ally. That started with the Reagan administration’s successful effort to shut down production of Israel’s Lavi fighter bomber in 1987 and has continued to the present day, in which the Obama administration’s 10-year commitment to military aid ensured that Israel couldn’t kick the habit so easily.
Friends with benefits
Still, these problems shouldn’t obscure the fact that both Israel and America have benefited enormously from their alliance.
In return, the Americans get access to Israeli intelligence (though not necessarily always reciprocating) and the vaunted Israeli expertise in high-tech and weapons development that improves their defense systems. And no price can be put upon the benefit of having a reliable and democratic ally who shares their values in a region as strategic as the Middle East.
Many in the Biden administration seem to no longer value having Israel or even moderate Arab regimes as allies. Their foolish pursuit of a rapprochement with Iran has done nothing but weaken U.S. influence and sacrifice its interests as well as those of its partners.
Yet as unreliable and even toxic as the relationship with Washington has become, the notion that there is any viable alternative to the United States for Israel is absurd. No other nation—not even a Communist Chinese government that is trying to buy influence across the globe—could give Israel the sort of help that Washington provides. And for all of the problems that come with this relationship, for Israel to seek closer ties with Beijing or Moscow would be to engage in deals with undemocratic and hostile nations that would be far more unreliable and eager to exert undue influence than the Americans. Getting closer to China—America’s chief geostrategic foe in the 21st century—would also raise the danger of alienating Republicans and Democrats alike in the United States.
Israel isn’t alone
That said, Netanyahu need not bend the knee to Biden or obey all of his diktats. He or anyone who replaced him will always want to stay close to the Americans but not at the cost of Israel’s security. As Netanyahu demonstrated when he repeatedly defied former President Barack Obama on issues like Israel’s borders and Jerusalem, Israel can say “no” if it has to.
The reason is that even when relations are at a low ebb, as they are now with Biden, and contrary to that New York Times headline, Israel isn’t really alone or completely isolated. It retains the support of the majority of the American people. And since Biden’s Republican opponents are overwhelmingly pro-Israel, a betrayal of the Jewish state will—left-wing rage about Gaza notwithstanding—cost Biden dearly at the ballot box when he faces former President Donald Trump, who can boast of being the most pro-Israel president in history.
Jonathan S. Tobin is editor-in-chief of JNS (Jewish News Syndicate). Follow him @jonathans_tobin.
@Edgar Well, it is clearly controversial and you, after all, are just another such source, telling me only that you read a lot of books without citing any of them with specifics so I can’t check anything you say, either, can I? Even established historians have written books vetted by their peers that had big mistakes in both substance and form in citing other people’s work. Memory is a funny thing. It plays tricks.. I took a graduate level course on just this topic alone. You’d be surprised.
In your literary travels did you encounter this one?
“Supporters of a third theory, that ‘Rus” is of Iranian origin, derive the etymology of the term from the Iranian tribe of the Roxolani (from Iranian rokhs ‘light’). Although it suitably explains the early occurrences of the name, this theory is vitiated by historical and geographic evidence.”
Rus’ – Internet Encyclopedia of Ukraine
The claim that the the Arabs are descended from Ishmael through the Nabateans on account of the pronunciation of a name is similarly thin, it occurs to me.
Sebastien
I recall that I have a dozen or so detailed books describing every move they made ,exactly where they entered the Dvina, where and how they transshipped and the fights they had on their way down to Kiev and further to the Black Sea.
That;s all I can say, but the Britannica blurb is not nearly as respected as it used to be, several very much older editions having greater authority than today’s. And it’s only a few lines with really no details.
I’d have assumed that if you’re going to pontificate on a subject that you’d make yourself completely familiar with it. And not rely on a few words from a dubious source.
Britannica once highly regarded but today almost ignored.
I have a cousin who writes some of the info in it. I recall some years ago that she was, actually had, written that Thackeray was antagonistic to Jews, and I was able to show her exactly where he wrote a very soft hearted, dignified praise of a Jewish Lady and her child, who,m he’s observed personally sitting in a public park.
@Edgar
Sebastien-
It is my recollection that the name “Rus” was given to the Vikings, who entering from the Gulf of Riga, rowed down to the Black Sea via portage
by the local Slave through whose local loosely held territory they passed..
Kiev grew up as a trading post which had an advantageous defensive position on the river.
That “Rus” became part of the name of Russia gives no ownership rights to Kiev, which was far away from early Russian territory, and had to be conquered.
My recollection only subject to dispute. A late Medieval Charles Kingsley
“Admirable Crichton “polymath” I am not.
@Michael Easy for you to say. It should happen to you.
Hi, Sebastien
There are some people groups that specialize in victimhood and Critical Race Theory. On the other hand, there are some who raised their children with poems like,
“All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small, All things wise and wonderful, The LORD God made them all.”
These two opposing mindsets have opposing outcomes.
Hi, Laura
You appear to have the gift of sanity — a rarity on this site. For those here (the majority) who favor cozying up to totalitarian regimes, I recommend the following from the South China Morning Post:
China’s spy ministry raises alert over foreign NGO theft of ‘environmental data’”
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3262460/chinas-spy-ministry-raises-alert-over-foreign-ngo-theft-environmental-data?module=top_story&pgtype=homepage
Basically, in China one could get a death sentence for counting geese in a wildlife refuge without permission. Is this the bright future that Peloni and Vivarto et al see for Israel? The whole idea is perverse.
@Vivarto Well, logically, employing the logic of Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address:
“Jewish and Democratic” should mean:
As I see it. rather than Norman Podhoretz’s quip about Reform Judaism which he claimed to be quoting, himself: “The Democratic Party with holidays thrown in.”
I told this to a female Reform rabbi, once in a hospital and she loved it. When they asked my mother her religion, she always just said, “universal.” So they sent her a reform rabbi. I guess that nose job she had gotten in the ’50’s wasn’t good enough.
Tell me how we’re not an identifiable on sight race, at least many of us, again? (Many blacks can pass, too. Of course, for a long time, anthropologists such as, I believe, Ashley Montague, held that race was a social construct as there were more differences within than between races. And, certainly, in the ancient world, to a certain extent, different clusters of inherited characteristics were grouped together or ignored. And today, if you look at Korean families, you can see within the same families differences that would be regarded as racial markers elsewhere.
But social constructs are real. I’ve experienced being one, one too many times.
@Edgar I remember Putin telling Carlson this. It’s where he began. I just googled: Russia Kiev origins,
and
were the first two to come up.
Also, I recall Putin noting with pleasure the many Russian origin Israelis.
However,
Russia has 132,000 Jews. America has 5 or 6 million. Between them, Almost 90 percent of all the Jews in the world live in Israel and America.
It is none of our business if our allies are “democratic” or not.
Likewise Israel should not be defined and “Jewish and democratic”.
Jewish is enough.
And even better is to call ourselves “Israelites”, rather than Jews.
This creates the connection to our land, and connection to the ancient Biblical name.
VIVARTO
I don’t understand your mention of “Russia’s historic rights to Kiev, Crimea etc”. It has always been dubious and changed from one period to another, as I recollect from my long ago reading.
I don’t recall that they had any, other than through war and takeover, perhaps from the time of Catherine, and dominating Ukraine Cossacks, who have always been a separate people..
For instance, although fictionalized, “Taras Bulba” of which I have a copy, shows Ukraine as a separate state,athough loosely formed.
PELONI
Yes Putin is a philo-Semite, at least he WAS, many years ago, but this was on a purely personal basis to do with his child-hood schoolteacher, for whom he bought an apartment in Israel. It was a HUGE news item at the time and much to much was read into it, which faded away as it showed no promise.
She could have been English for who he’d bough an apartment in London for that matter.
In affairs of State Russia is NO friend of Israel, except where it may thwart Us policies. and at the same time benefit Russia’s.
No more than that. I’m afraid.
This is essentially what I said. I also agree with much of what you said.
Hi, Laura
Agreed!
@Laura
@Vivarto
@dreuveni
A very interesting conversation, indeed.
It is true that Putin has demonstrated himself to be a philosemite, but this should be recognized as being an aberration rather than representative of the Russian people. Certainly, this has not been Russia’s historic outlook towards the Jews or Israel prior to the Putin era. Regardless of this fact, however, Israel should continue its long term policy of working with Russia as it can, but the purpose in doing so should be to improve Israeli-Russian relations, not to replace the US with Russia which would only leave it as a dependency of Russia instead of that of the US, and with no prospect of a long term fellowship with the Russian people as exists with the people of America. Israel needs to shed its dependency along side the US, demonstrate her own independence, and move towards a position better situated between the powers as best she can.
Importantly, Israel should not become directly involved in the squabbles between the Great Powers, and providing its support for or against Ukraine would be doing exactly this – it would be an unforced error of epic proportions for which it could not walk back in the future. Instead, Israel needs to become a bridge between the Great Powers, providing a basis of support from both sides. By doing so, she could manage the animosity between the two as she still holds a relative importance to either power.
Also, the reason the US power elites are currently reimposing an embargo on Israel is precisely because they have found a manner by which to exert their control over America without the need of gaining the support of the American people, who are overwhelmingly supportive of Israel. Indeed electoral fraud in America has had many unrepresentative consequences for the US, and the souring of the US-Israeli relationship is certainly to be counted among these. Should the US fail to repair its electoral quandaries, it would provide the same arbitrary level of support for Israel as it should expect from any despotic regime.
This provides a greater need for Israel to seek out allies and partners in other quadrants of the world, but any expectation that it could replace the US with Russia would be, I fear, short sighted with a poor return. India too would not be capable of replacing the US, but the strengthening of the relationship between Israel and India has provided a host of benefits for either side demonstrating the importance of developing such partnerships.
How ironic. It seems that Tobin has overlooked the fact that the US had fully demonstrated that it is both undemocratic and a hostile nation to Israel. In fact its hostility to Israel is based upon its move to adopt undemocratic means by which to select its leaders rather than to allow them to be elected. So this argument rings quite hollow at the moment and will likely continue to do so until America fixes its electoral corruption problem.
Also, Israel is caught in an abusive relationship with the US which should be recognized as a dependency of the US, for which the US mines Israel’s intelligence assets and defense needs to advantage America’s defenses and Washington’s oligarchs. Hence, Israel must establish itself as an independent party, and to do this, it must shed the old concepzia which has held Israel in a continued state of dependency. By doing so, it can achieve a renewal of the US-Israeli relationship which is commiserate and not abusive, which is coordinated, and not destructive.
@vivarto: I agree with most of your points but there is one major issue that we need to deal with – international law is what the courts say it is, treaties or MOUs or any other documents not withstanding. This is really an issue with regard to international law whether in the Hague, in the UN or wherever.
The courts say what they are told to say, which means that our trust in the courts is misplaced.
Vivarto and dreuveni take heart, American support for Israel isn’t going away. Biden cannot act unilaterally. If you think Russia is a viable replacement for Israel’s alliance with America, you’re crazy and are dismissing the importance of the cultural and religious aspect of the American people’s support for Israel. There is no equivalent in Russia. There is no Evangelical base in Russia. Israel has no support in that country that would compel its leaders to back Israel. In fact, it’s outright hostile to Israel. Go look at the Russia accounts on X which are rabidly antisemitic. Biden and the democrats notwithstanding, America is uniquely a pro-Israel country. Perhaps there are others, but none with any global power.
You’re delusional. Russia is allied with hamas and iran and has essentially declared itself an enemy of Israel. What’s with the Russia fetish on this site?https://www.mei.edu/publications/essential-questions-about-russia-hamas-link-evidence-and-its-implications
Israel is being punished for its ambiguity regarding the national boundaries.
The moment Israel declares that our national boundaries are from the river to the sea, our friends will have a chance to support us.
Our right is moral, historical as well as legal by the international law.
We certainly could buy a lot of support from Russia by daring to speak the truth about Russia’s historical rights to Crimea, Donbass, as well as to Odessa etc.
International politics is similar to buying tomatoes in the market.
You get the tomatoes if you are willing to pay the price.
We want the recognition of our national rights to the entire Palestinian Mandate between the River and the Sea. If Russia is willing to provide that, together with the UNSC veto, we could recognize any part or all of Ukraine as part of Russia.
Additionally if Russia will team up with us to replace the Iranian Mullah with a friendly government, we could offer a full collaboration with Russian defense industry. Russia-India-Israel weapon manufacturing alliance would outcompete the Americans because the price will be 1/3 of American counterparts.
Perhaps there is an alternative to the alliance with the United States
The continuing slow-walking, sandbagging and betrayal by the US administration is too obvious to talk away. They have become an opponent rather than an ally and it is only a question of time before they try to bully Israel into submission. That sound a little Islamic, doesn’t it?