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Europe, as well as the rest of the world, hold a very different view of Israel than the US. The UK is by far the most pro-Israeli European country, but try reading the BBC and you will see an enormous difference how they portray Israel versus US media. An attack on Israeli policy in the US generates instant accusations of anti-semitism. You certainly don’t hear charges of racism when the policies of China, Sudan or Saudi Arabia are attacked. European press will report Israeli aggressions just as they will report Palestinian violence or any other violence. No free passes allowed.
Everyone reports suicide attacks, but the US media rarely reports systematic killing of Palestinian civilians, bulldozing of homes, destruction of infrastructure and blockades of towns. We call Israel a democracy, as we called South Africa and Zimbabwe democracies. Yet for 35 years, millions of people in the occupied territories have been neither allowed to vote nor have their own nation.
Most Americans support Israel, but it isn’t because of a jewish lobby. While political pressure is very strong, mainly from the media, most Americans are not jews, and even fewer of our political leaders are. We support Israel for economic and military reasons, certainly not on idealistic grounds.
First, Israel is a reliable military ally and strategically located for a rapid response into oil producing nations. The Persian Gulf is the most valuable resource on the planet, home to 50% of proven oil reserves worldwide. Saudi Arabia is controlled by a pro-American royal family, while the population as a whole is anti-American. We get cheap oil and we give the corrupt, Saud family military protection in exchange. Should the royal family collapse, the population, who feels their oil is being exploited, will cut back oil production, raising prices, exactly like what happened when the royals were evicted from Iran in 1979. Israel is capable of reacting quickly until we have time to get in and install a pro-oil, pro-American government.
Second, Israel and the US military have also had a special cooperation in weaponry development for many years, which was particulary useful during the cold war. We were not at war during most of this period, but working with Israel we were able to test our latest weapons under live battlefield conditions.
Third, the US is by far the largest exporter of weapons worldwide. The problem is that many nations that need weapons are banned by US and European law because of human rights abuses. Israel serves the lucrative role of arms broker for our defense industry to Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Zimbabwe among many others. Sometimes Israel steps out of line, such as last year when Israel tried to sell our AWACS to China. Congress stepped in and threatened to cut off military funding, before Israel relented.
America supports Israel for practical economic reasons, not solely or even mostly because of the jewish lobby. Europe doesn’t have the same economic need to support Israel, because their defense industry is much smaller. Thus they don’t have the need to test the latest weapons or need a partner to evade arms embargos. They also aren’t as interested in using Israel to maintain pro-oil regimes in the gulf. Europe already heavily taxes their oil in an effort to boost conservation, thus an increase in price would not be as detrimental to them. Without such a large economic incentive Europe just doesn’t see the need to support Israeli desires to destroy the Palestinian people.
Any jew is granted automatic Israeli citizenship, but there is a religious review, not sure of the details, that determines who qualifies as a jew.
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