W.J. Astore
You get what you pay for
This graphic provides clarity as to why Joe Biden and other senior leaders in the U.S. government are consistently pro-Israel:
Of course, the power of AIPAC and similar interest groups isn’t limited to the money they give in campaign “donations.” If you cross them, they will use their power to denounce you as anti-Semitic and anti-Israel while supporting more tractable candidates against you.
You have to hand it to AIPAC and Israel. They basically control much of the U.S. government and for a relatively cheap price.
Of course, I’m not suggesting money and intimidation are the only reasons these men support Israel, but they are compelling ones.
The Palestinians and indeed the Arab and Muslim world simply have no counter to AIPAC and Israel. Unless you count oil and the threat of turning the taps off. Still, the power of the Israeli lobby in America is staggering. Many members of Congress seem more eager and willing to protect Israel at any cost than America itself. Senator Fetterman of Pennsylvania literally draped himself in an Israeli flag to show his support of that country.
To be an ally of a country, you don’t have to be a slavering puppet. Or a groveling puppy.
What is wrong with these people?
Update (5/11): I added this to the comments section and then thought it might be useful here as well: Besides money and fear, especially of being labeled anti-Semitic, here are more reasons why U.S. politicians support Israel so strongly:
1. It’s the path of least resistance.
2. For some, support of Israel is tied up with evangelicalism and other forms of Judeo-Christian faith.
3. They want to cash in after they leave office, and being construed as not entirely pro-Israel may be detrimental to that.
4. Sympathy for Israel (and Jews) as victims of the Holocaust.
5. Discomfort or antipathy toward Muslims, e.g. they seem more “alien” or less Western than Israelis and Jewish people in general.
6. The IDF and its intelligence services are intertwined with the CIA and various other U.S. intelligence agencies. In other words, fear of reprisals, because, let’s face it, most politicians have a lot of skeletons in various closets, and even if they don’t, skeletons can be “found.”
7. The U.S. mainstream media is almost entirely uncritical of Israel. Strong criticism of Israel will lead to negative coverage. Support of Israel produces positive coverage.
8. Being treated as an outcast among your peers. Most politicians relish being part of the club and basking in applause. You’re in the club and applauded when you support Israel. The opposite is true if you don’t.
Any others, readers? (And, of course, money/jobs related to all the U.S. weaponry that flows to Israel.)
Bracing Views 
The only actual democracy in that part of the world.
There is ample back-up to the claim that the entrepreneurial ‘bug’ is very present among Jews. As a group, they INVENT things at a rate far greater, proportionately to population size, than nearly any other group.
These are but two reasons Americans politically and otherwise identify far more easily with Israel as a nation, not necessarily Israelis as individuals.
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Offhand and hurriedly: No. 9 ‘reason’: the Colonial US and Colonial/Zionist Israel have a common historical/ongoing thread of colonialism, disdain for others, “exceptionalism,” committing genocide against AmerInds, apartheid vs. blacks and other minorities, extreme/disproportionate violence.
Excellent work by Mr. Astore!
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It’s not a mystery that the U.S. has assumed a role in Israel that is not to America’s benefit. Much lies in the post Ottoman period when Israel became a British colony, although a U.N mandate. But it was essentially a British colony with a British administration controlled by a reported 100,000 British led troops for over 20 years. There was a seamless transmission when Anglo America assumed responsibility to oversee and protect a European Jewish population. The role is proving to be destructive to America’s interests and a considerable loss of prestige with Muslim countries. Insidious loyalties run deep and America has immersed itself in an utterly self-destructive relationship with policy makers largely rooted in an Israeli support system that will continue to foment war at putative enemies well into the future unless a new set of policy makers change course, an unlikely scenario.
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Although I agree with the general thrust of your comment — I wish I had the time/energy to do some diligent research — I think it’s important to clarify that Colonial UK was awarded the “Palestine Mandate” through the League of Nations after WWI. There was no Israel then! Zionist terrorist gangs pushed and prodded and assassinated to make their wet dream a reality…voila, the (I aver illegal) start-up of “Israel” in May 1948 and the torment of the indigenous Palestinians ever since (and, of course, even long before).
I did decide to do a quick search; this is what I found:
The British Mandate for Palestine was a League of Nations mandate that granted Britain the administration of the territories of Palestine and Transjordan. It began after the British had conquered Palestine from the Ottoman Empire during World War I. The mandate was assigned to Britain by the San Remo conference in April 1920. Transjordan was added to the mandate after the Arab Kingdom in Damascus was toppled by the French in the Franco-Syrian War. The mandate was in force from 29 September 1923 to 15 May 1948 for Palestine and until 25 May 1946 for Transjordan. During this period, Britain oversaw a succession of protests, riots, and revolts between the Jewish and Palestinian Arab communities in the region
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The irony of Israel is that US Zionist support of the place destroyed it. Obviously, Israel exists and what will happen now is unknown (I offer an idea below) but I think it is safe to say that Gaza is a turning point, where any sympathy for Zionism due to the holocaust has passed. Only a stone could not have some feeling for the Gazans now.
When I say US support has been destructive, I mean that in 1948 when the Zionists had terrified and expelled the 750,000 Palestinians within reach, they could have stopped and in doing so guaranteed the new state would have a future from the good feelings the world had (except for the Arabs) for those hard-working sun-tanned young people tilling the soil with pride and joy but not arrogance. What would have sealed the future for Israel would have been contributing something, anything, to the refugee camps they had undeniably created (instead left to the UNRWA, so hated by Israel still today)
But no. Part of ancient Israel was not acceptable and talk of “Judea and Samaria” started. Even so, the dream could have been restrained by surrounding power and US action in the UN for restraint. It was not to be. 1967 not only convinced Israelis of their invincibility (and of God helping them out) but Zionism in the US had become entrenched and powerful enough to throw the weight of the US behind it.
Can you imagine the feeling among Israelis in ’67?! Elation. Celebration. We have thrown off our chains, we have overcome all of history, we are on top and have unlimited power behind us. We have clinched “never again” and now let’s complete the dream! Yes there were some sane heads, but the settler movement was energized.
From there it was more or less a railroad to fanaticism, where Israel is today, dragging the US down with it through the corruption indicated by your graphic above. Netanyahu says jump and Biden, elderly as he is, jumps. Congress jumps. How high? Congress tells the American people they are not free to compare what Zionism is doing with what the Nazis did. That high.
Zionism has been defeated by the unlimited power given it by the US because Israel has in Gaza exposed a Zionism where human beings are swept off the map easily and readily, and I will break the law to say just as the Nazis did. The Jewish State still sits there, but what a bloody stain it has placed on that blue and white flag, not visible at all to most Israelis.
Now what? What is the record on fanaticism calming down? Can anyone give an instance? US support is crumbling, the crazy pro-Israel speech flooding from Congress is repellent to any American subject to reason. A desperate move not out of the question is an attack on Iran. If that card is played it must come soon or automatic US support by auto-joining for Israel cannot be guaranteed because Americans are waking up.
If an attack on Iran doesn’t happen, Israel will descend into chaos with the attempt to oust Netanyahu along with being riven by the divide between the Haredim and secular Israelis. Add in blame for Oct 7 being thrown around, HAMAS still in existence, Hezbollah still armed and ready to the north. We are going to see Israel come apart in bitterness and the Palestinians will be the target of a very frustrated people whose rage must be satisfied with the usual target close at hand.
Seen as a glorious success in 1967, history will judge Zionism as a tragedy and a great number of Jews will not disagree.
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… money is the most powerful force running our diplomacy… whatever it is, money says it’s right… it’s right
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