Thank You Congress and President Trump!
Few Americans understand the origins of Israel’s “wag the dog” influence over the United States. Israel’s victory in the 1967 war against its neighbors revealed to Washington’s military planners how having superior weaponry could empower a smaller nation to stand firm against larger, seemingly stronger foes. Back then, Israel was mostly equipped with French arms that reportedly outperformed Soviet-made gear used by Syria and Egypt. As a result, in 1968, following intense lobbying in Congress, President Lyndon B Johnson, who was influenced by Zionist interests, authorized the previously blocked sale of F-4 Phantom jets to Israel. This act set the foundation for ongoing US backing of Israel’s Qualitative Military Edge (QME) over Arab and Christian states in the region. Five years later, after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, the United States and Israel reached an understanding to implicitly maintain Israel’s QME. Furthermore, the US significantly increased aid to Israel, eventually replacing France as its primary arms provider.
This de facto pledge to uphold Israel’s military superiority became explicit under President Ronald Reagan and has been reaffirmed by every administration since. Large arms shipments during the tenures of Presidents Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Donald Trump have even supported actions widely condemned as genocidal in Gaza, along with strikes on unsuspecting Syria and Lebanon. The initial rationale for this policy was partially rooted in Cold War dynamics aimed at opposing Soviet-backed Arab nations and also reflected the growing influence of Israel’s US Lobby. Presently, Israel stands as the largest beneficiary of US military aid, guaranteed $3 billion annually, with additional arms provided to meet specific demands. Critics link this support to enabling a consistent pattern of Israeli aggression and alleged war crimes.
What began as a security assurance for Israel has morphed into a formidable force, with Israel leveraging this backing to launch conflicts with neighboring countries, including recent engagements with Lebanon, Syria, and Iran. Both the White House and Congress consistently supply Israel with requested weaponry, funding, and political backing in global forums such as the United Nations. Israel’s Lobby, widely regarded as the most powerful foreign policy lobbying group targeting Congress and the White House, has expanded its influence into weapons development to counter perceived threats. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu now occupies a central role in steering the relationship, influencing critical decisions about war and peace.
At present, Israel and sympathetic officials in Washington are progressing toward a thorough integration of many military operations between the two nations. No other country considered a US “ally,” including NATO members, enjoys this level of access or sway over military affairs.
Concerns about Israel’s disproportionate influence are well founded, as it has become powerful enough to suppress First Amendment protections, including criminalizing what it perceives as criticism. Few in the US know that despite Israel’s acknowledged nuclear capability, US officials are barred from acknowledging this publicly to avoid embarrassing Israel or triggering limitations on arms sales. Ironically, Israel’s arsenal exists partly due to nuclear materials and components it acquired without authorization from the United States. President John F Kennedy attempted to halt Israel’s nuclear ambitions, and many suspect his assassination was connected to this effort.
The one-sided nature of US-Israel relations continues to deepen. As I reported recently, Congress is considering legislation that would grant American citizens serving in the Israeli military the same benefits as those serving in the US armed forces, including education, employment, and healthcare. This unprecedented bill, currently moving through Congress, would amend existing law so that those enlisting in the Israel Defense Force (IDF) receive the same treatment as US military personnel. Many of these so-called “Americans” are dual Israeli citizens. If enacted, this change would uniquely blur the distinction between US and Israeli military service, with benefits flowing solely toward serving Israeli interests and funded by American taxpayers.
Moreover, a recent US government favor to Israel, courtesy of the House of Representatives—which some mockingly call the “Knesset West”—is embedded in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2027, unveiled May 13th. Section 224 in the House draft, titled “United States-Israel Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative,” promotes joint US-Israeli military research and development, co-production of arms, licensing deals, AI, directed energy, data sharing, and missile defense. This legislation lays out the structure for close collaboration encompassing research, weapon manufacturing partnerships, joint ventures, and virtually every facet of the US-Israeli military-industrial partnership. Its effect would intricately link American military operations with Israeli forces more deeply than even the $200 billion in military aid transferred to Israel since 1948.
Critics highlight how Section 224 would fuse the defense industries of both countries in critical futuristic domains such as autonomous technology and cyberwarfare. It would also amplify Israel’s sway over US policy beyond the existing influence of its Lobby and mainstream media control. The bill could facilitate expansion or initiation of Israeli co-production sites like those already operational in various US states, giving Israel leverage by providing jobs within congressional districts, thereby securing political allies. This dynamic could lead to a Congress and White House more inclined to wage wars inspired by the Greater Israel ambitions of Netanyahu and his extremist Security Chief Itamar Ben-Gvir.
The pro-Zionist Congress has orchestrated this transformation discreetly, predominantly through the White House and Netanyahu’s influence, without informing or gaining approval from the American public, to whom the US government is supposedly accountable. Of course, all related costs will fall on US taxpayers. Notably, this increasing military integration occurs amid unprecedented public distrust and disapproval of Israel’s government in the United States—a fact that likely isn’t coincidental, as Netanyahu aims to cement legally binding ties with America while shielding Israel from reciprocal responsibilities.
Ben Freeman of the Quincy Institute points out that “The shift will strip away the political and diplomatic oversight mechanisms that make the relationship publicly accountable, moving it from a visible annual aid vote into the opaque machinery of defense acquisition, where oversight is limited and political accountability is minimal. The result would be a defense relationship that is simultaneously deeper and less transparent. And this all comes at a time when the Israeli military has repeatedly used U.S. weapons in strikes that have violated international humanitarian laws in Gaza, and as Israel has repeatedly violated ceasefires (as has the US itself) in the Trump administration’s unnecessary war with Iran.”
In summary, the United States finds itself on a troubling path driven by its own government in collusion with a small apartheid regime known for torture, genocide, and other crimes against humanity. How this will all conclude? You might want to ask Donald Trump!
Original article: The Unz Review
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