Reply #25: No Israel would stop being an ally if we did all those things. [View All]

[Mike_from_NoVa]

But, if we CONTINUE to fund their military might (we're spending a boatload of tax dollars here!), America has the right to insist on any political behavior we choose, IMO. This would include dismantling (and not starting any new) settlements, tearing down Maginot Line South, equitably sharing resources like water, and practicing the best possible human rights behavior toward the Palestinians. We certainly insist on a far wider range of behavior changes for the Palestinian Authority for what, in comparison, is chump change.

As an American with absolutely no religious stake in the politics of the region, I simply want to be able to leverage the massive amount of US foreign and military aid that flows into Israel in the cause of real peace. There's no apparent reason, other than the loud squawking of special interest groups, that this aid needs to be a blank check, like it seems to be today.

This has the potential to be a massively divisive issue and it looks like the recent Kerry/Lieberman broadsides against Dean might bring them to the forefront of the political radar. To spill over and become an immediate national issue, not just an issue localized to the Democratic primaries. The DLC, Kerry/Lieberman, whoever, are making a big mistake, IMO. If this gets full and loud play in the media, aid to Israel and Sharon's defiance of US initiatives also will come front and center. Public sentiment is very pro-Israel as long as the amount of money we send there annually is not brought up. But if Kerry/Lieberman/DLC keeps pushing, the pushback will include the foreign aid numbers. The deficit is too big; everything the govt. spends is coming under "is it worth the cost?" scrutiny. US taxpayers don't want to piss their money away on blank checks to the defiant. When alerted to the size and failure of this "investment," John Q is going to be very tempted to cut his losses and walk away.