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Joe Biden has done more than arm Israel. He’s complicit in Gaza’s devastating famine
(www.independent.co.uk)
this post was submitted on 16 May 2024
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politics
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Israel is only a regional power by virtue of the US propping it up, it cannot maintain that status on its own. Why on earth would either Russia or China want to take that on, when they could just do nothing and watch Israeli power plummet.
Israel has no large, international backer that is both willing and able to step up and provide cover for it like the US does, and it lacks the might through its own weight around like Russia or China have long term. Without the constant backing of the US to shield from.the consequences of its actions, Israel would become the pariah state it rightfully should be.
And a lovely bit of whataboutism to round things out from you. Unfortunately for you, my memory is longer than a news cycle, but cute attempt at sounding like you were digging deep there.
Where did you pick that nonsense up? Annual US aid amounts to around 15% of Israel's military budget. That's $3.8b compared to a GDP of $500b. It is a regional power with or without the US. US aid is in exchange for maintaining a major US military base in Israeli territory and access to Israeli intelligence. Israel spends more money on purchasing US weapons than it receives in US aid. US weapons also rely on technology designed and produced in Israel.
Why on earth would Russia or China want to watch Israeli power plummet when they could use it to project power into the Middle East and access it's resources? Why do you think the US is there?
It's not Whataboutism, I was just explaining how foreign policy works. It's clearly a topic of which you know very little. I'm not saying it's OK that Israel commits a genocide because others do it, I'm saying that the international community doesn't react to genocide like you or I do. They will praise, condemn, or ignore it based on their own national interests. That's not how I think it should work, it's how it does work.
This isn't just about Israel's military budget. That helps, sure, but it's pretty crucial that Israel gets shielded from the consequences of its actions by the US constantly. If Israel were to start facing sanctions or have its saber-rattling no longer backed up by the threat of US intervention, be via sanctions or interceding directly, Israel would be a much less imposing power in the region. Military support is not the only measure of US support for Israel.
They could literally do the same thing without a) having to provide Israel ongoing material support and diplomatic cover, b) risk getting dragged into conflicts that don't benefit them by Israel, and c) alienate their existing allies in the region by backing a hostile power.
Israel provided a convenient foothold for the US half a century ago, when the surrounding Arab nations were more hostile to them. The situation has changed remarkably, and Israel is no longer unique in being willing to work with the US. Israel has, in fact, been a liability in making progress with this until relatively recently. But, sure, let's piss off the rest of the region so we can get Waze and some Israeli clementines out of things, seems like a good trade on the balance of it.
You want to claim I know so little about foreign policy, but you quite conveniently omit the many drawbacks to supporting Israel, as well as any of its weaknesses.