The US Must Stop Enabling Israel

by Irn Bru Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:06 am

Alon Ben-Meir - June 18, 2015

No one can deny the close, abiding, and unparalleled friendship between the United States and Israel. This tight bond has served both countries well, especially Israel, which has benefitted politically, economically, and militarily from the US’s unwavering support, helping Israel to become a powerhouse second to none in the Middle East. It appears, though, that this unequivocal American support and friendship enabled Israel to become more entrenched in the West Bank by building and expanding the settlements and expropriating Palestinian land, thereby making the prospect of achieving peace ever more remote.

Regardless of the wars and violent conflicts sweeping the region since Israel’s inception, the US maintained a steady hand in its support of Israel, even at the expense of its own strategic interests in the area.

Friendship, after all, whether between countries or individuals, carries with it a moral responsibility and obligation to lend aid, advice, resources, and protection as the case may warrant. An ethical difficulty arises, however, when one realizes that instead of helping a friend, one is in fact allowing, or enabling, that friend to harm himself.

To use a simple analogy, if my friend is addicted to drugs, there quickly comes a point where readily giving him money (in the Israeli-US situation, providing Israel with military aid, economic assistance, and especially political cover) is directly contributing to the continuation of this devastating habit.

It is precisely in the name of friendship that I must refuse to give that which my friend so ardently desires. Such a policy of ‘tough love’ is never easy or pleasant, and certainly unpopular – as Nietzsche put it, “This is the hardest of all: to close the open hand out of love…”

US-Israel relations are presently at a historic low because Obama was willing to show a little tough love by exerting limited pressure on Israel to suspend settlement activity. The irony here is that while the US believes that Israeli-Arab peace will provide Israel with ultimate long-term security, it did not exert sufficient pressure on Israel to pursue peace, which of necessity requires significant concessions.

You can read the rest here...

http://www.alonben-meir.com/article/the-us-must-stop-enabling-israel/?utm_source=Subscribers&utm_campaign=c239658d22-UA-5963141-2&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_6e846e6217-c239658d22-310002545

Brilliant artcle and pretty much in line with what Quill has been saying for some time now.

by Guest Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:11 am

The US would have to be very tough indeed, because they fully intend to carry on expanding the illegal settlements and mowing down anything or anyone who gets in their way, as they stated in the link you put up on the other thread.

The US Must Stop Enabling Israel

The US Must Stop Enabling Israel

Re: The US Must Stop Enabling Israel