Saw this in the news today Israel-Gaza war: US carries out its first aid airdrop in strip https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68457937
I don’t get it… the US has been a really vocal and financial supporter of the state of Israel, why are they also supporting the Palestinians who oppose them?
Supporting Israel with weapons and UN vetos is the only leverage the US has over Israel right now. The US is sort of trying to be the supportive buddy who talks their friend down instead of just another country on the list that yells at them but does nothing else.
Problem is, Israel has made it pretty clear they don’t care if they lose US support (or don’t believe it can politically happen) and so that leverage is almost nil which is making the US and Biden look both complicit and weak.
The US is also having to react in real time to changing attitudes on Israel. A year ago, opposition to Israel would have been political suicide in the U.S. Now opinions are much more mixed. We see 13% in one vote willing to protest and vote uncommitted, but we don’t see the other end. What percent would shift their vote to Trump in support of Israel if Biden toughened his stance. Biden is trying to appeal to both sides, which is a terrible strategy, but I doubt he has a choice as he likely needs both sides to win…
This is a great answer, thanks!
It’s definitely the latter. Israel would very much care if they lost US support, as the drop in funding and military materiel would weaken their power in the region considerably.
It’s surely only a matter of time though, right? I mean, their support drops off sharply amlmg younger age-groups. I suspect they’re trying to ram through as much violence now as they can, because the clock’s ticking on such extravagant and uncritical (or only circumspectly critical) support.
We’ve been hearing these stories for generations. “When our generation is in charge we won’t have these senseless wars any more” but somehow here we are again.
So, the US is the enabling buddy who thinks they are helping their alcoholic friend by accompanying them and telling them to go home when they drink too much, but is instead endangering everyone by encouraging them to drive under the influence anyways.