Benefits of the U.S.-Israel Relationship

This would come as a big surprise to Stephen Walt, John Mearsheimer and like-minded creeps who think breaking off our ties to Israel would only harm Israel. Here is a transcript from a Middle East Radio Forum program on how the U.S. benefits from our relationship with Israel.

What Israel does for the U.S.

A few weeks ago I posted a link to a MERF program in which Dr Steve Carol dealt with the question

“What Israel Does for the United States, Parts I & II”

Here’s the transcript of the answer.

[Part I - April 5, 2009]

William Wolf: Let’s take that question. Eddie from New Jersey, you’re on the air.

Eddie: Thank you very much. And Dr. Carol, so many are anti-Israeli. They just seem to want to reduce or cut off the aid to Israel, which will essentially pressure Israel to stand alone. Can you please give the listeners an idea of what Israel does as a strategic ally of the United States?

Steve Carol: That’s a great question Eddie. At least I’ll start. That could easily take up the rest of the show, so I’ll get involved in a piece of it and I promise the listeners when I come back in two weeks, I’ll conclude this.

Throughout the six decades since the Jewish people reestablished their sovereignty in the land of Israel, an often-repeated claim has been made, indeed we hear it now coming out of the Obama administration, that Israel is a draining liability on the United States. This claim is bogus, and an examination of the facts, hopefully, will consign this charge to the trashbin of history where it belongs.

Further adding to the problem, however, were the statements made by, and the conduct of, Israeli leftist leaders since the 1993 mis-named Oslo Peace Process that created the false impression that Israeli-Ameican ties constitute a one-way relationship. The impression that the leftist governments of Israel gave was that the U.S. government gives and Israel merely receives, and thus Israel must constantly bow, quote “to American pressure,” end of quote, as personified by the U.S. State Department.

WW: Okay. Before we get to the next break I would like to add that people think that Israel is somehow just being benefitted solely. The United States acts in its own interest. All countries act in their own interest in foreign policy.
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Welcome back to the final segment of today’s very interesting and important edition of Middle East Radio Forum…Dr. Carol, do you want to finish your response to my comment?

S.C.: Yes. As we signed off you made a statement. Let me quote it as it was originally given. Lord Palmerston, British Foreign Secretary in 1848, said, it’s one of my favorite quotes, “A nation has no eternal friends, no perpetual enemies, only eternal and perpetual interests.” And that’s why you can be Germany’s enemy and then Germany’s friend, Japan’s friend, then Japan’s enemy, then Japan’s friend. This is the nature of international relations.
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WW: Okay. Dr. Carol, do you want to continue with the discussion?…

SC: I want to get to some examples of proof that Eddie had asked about in his question. Alright, the truth is the relationship between the U.S. and Israel is a two-way partnership. For example, in 1952, as the Cold War got started, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Omar Bradley, called for the integration of Israel, which was only four years old, into the Mediterranean basin area in light of the country’s location and unique capability. In 1967, Israel defeated a radical Arab pro-Soviet theater offensive, which threatened to bring about the collapse of a pro-American Arab regime in the region, disrupt oil supplies, and thus severely undermine the American standard of living. The U.S. gained valuable military information from an analysis of the Israeli-captured Soviet equipment, including SAM 2, SAM 12, Mig 21 aircraft, Soviet T54 battle tanks. In fact, Israel gave an entire squadron of Mig 21’s to the United States, which was dubbed the “Top Gun Squadron” and was used by the U.S. Air Force and naval forces for training purposes.

Since 1967, Israel [has] transferred captured Soviet weaponry systems to the United States Pentagon after every conflict: ‘67, ‘67-’70, ‘73, ‘82, 1990. They even transferred SCUD remnants from the Gulf War that had been fired on Israel, and the 2006 Hezbullah war against Israel, where they transferred missile components supplied by Iran, to the United States.

In the 1967-’70 thousand day War of Attrition, The Israeli armed forces, armed with American aircraft successfully defeated a Soviet-suppplied air defense system, pointing out the deficiencies in Soviet air defense doctrine to U.S. defense planners. Israel shared captured military equipment, including a P2 radar, [for] which they stormed an island, Green Island, dismantled this two-ton radar and had it helicoptered, airlifted out, off the island, back to Israeli lines, and then they turned it over to the United States.

In 1970, Israel brought about the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Jordan, at a time when the U.S. was tied up by wars in Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia, thus preventing the fall of the pro-American Hashemite regime and the installation of a pro-Soviet, radical Palestinian terrorist regime.

In 1973, thanks to U.S. resupply, but without U.S. forces, Israel defeated Soviet-trained and equipped Egyptian and Syrian forces. Israel again shared captured Soviet equipment, including battle tanks, with the U.S. Israel emerged as the only reliable ally, where U.S. troops could land, where U.S. equipment can be prepositioned, where the U.S. has friendly port facilities in Haifa and Ashdod, in the entire Middle East region. This too has saved the United States billions of dollars. And the list goes on. I promise the listeners we’ll come back to this on my next appearance…

Continued