Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
That's the question the formidable Daniel Larison and Noah Millman wish to raise, over and against David Frum's case for the special relationship. I'm not inclined to pick on Frum first. So here's Larison:
as Millman says, the Cold War is long over, and whatever strategic advantage Israel provided back then disappeared along with the Soviet Union. If the “realist case for a strong relationship with Israel today revolves primarily around the claim that we have common enemies,” as Millman writes, it is not at all clear that there is much that supports this case. As dreadful as they are, Hamas and Hizbullah are not enemies of the United States, and we largely treat Iran as our enemy because our Gulf allies and Israel insist that we do. At present and in the future, the U.S. has many reasons to find a modus vivendi with Iran and to improve relations, not least because one of our most important regional allies, Turkey, has made improved relations with Iran a priority. The claim that “we have common enemies” is based in no small part on the conflation of all Islamic revolutionary, resistance and jihadist groups into one camp in which Al Qaeda, Hamas, Hizbullah, and the IRGC are all placed regardless of their differences with one another or the threat they pose to U.S. interests.
I continue to maintain that we have a lot to learn from our paleoconservative friends about recapturing the art of prudential foreign policy, but only the most imprudent self-flattery would lead an analyst to conclude that Hezbollah is not an enemy of the United States. Indeed, the best case for reaching a modus vivendi with Iran, or with any other power, is that it is an adversary -- of the sort that is made amenable to reason as a consequence of the inability of either itself or ourselves to defeat the other at acceptable cost. I would gladly welcome any modus vivendi with Iran that prevented the nuclearization of the Mideast and installed enforceable, reliable guarantees against the use of nuclear weapons to entrench and extend westward Iranian military, economic, and political hegemony -- which, let's face it, simply runs contrary to American interest, even if there is and never was any such thing as Israel.
If the argument is that, in the longer run, Iranian hegemony might well be more in the American interest than the alternatives, well, that's a conversation worth having (nobody, remember, is terribly keen on the Saudi regime from a geopolitical standpoint, and comparisons between Arabs and Persians from the same standpoint aren't terribly kind to the former). But the not-so-hidden premise of Daniel and Noah is that the precondition for this conversation is a rejection of the proposition that Israel's terrorist enemies are also our own. How else could we begin to reach a general agreement with Iran, the state sponsor of those terrorists?
It's a shame that we wind up on this fruitless road, because Daniel and Noah are both speaking sensibly enough, if controversially, when they reach their bottom line. Larison again:
We aren’t formally obligated by treaty commitments, so theoretically the alliance could “end” tomorrow if that is what Washington decided, but everyone realistically understands that some sort of alliance will remain for the foreseeable future. [...] What does need to happen is to re-balance the relationship with Israel so that the political, diplomatic and financial costs of the alliance are matched by what the U.S. receives from it (which isn’t very much these days). At present, even the smallest moves in that direction are considered unspeakable betrayals. That is one reason why proponents of re-balancing the U.S.-Israel relationship are not interested in arguing for ending the alliance outright. It is difficult enough to argue for conditional reductions in economic aid that calling for a complete break would be rejected out of hand.
Calling for a complete break would also be rejected out of hand because it is nonsensical and contrary to basic American principles, but leave that aside. If the issue is that Israel can't give us much for our trouble, it's difficult to imagine what Israel could ever give the US that would be 'worth' the alliance. The 'trouble' is that the US and Israel are friends, and because Israel is in a tough spot we are allies. One way to resolve this situation is to start acting as if the US and Israel are not friends. But, as I've remarked recently, friendliness is not necessarily the mark of a true friend, and Daniel and Noah are right that what is in Israel's interest, to take settlements as a ready example, is not necessarily in America's interest, even from the perspective of the alliance. Some Israeli actions make it harder to be a good friend and ally to Israel. But the way to persuade Americans to think more carefully (and, if need be, uncomfortably) about how to be a good friend and ally is not to claim, as Daniel and Noah claim, that the alliance is defunct or crippling. Those who assert that our alliance with Israel has no reason to exist, or that Hezbollah is not an enemy of the United States, are not terribly effective spokesmen for balancing and incrementalism.
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Jun '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
What exactly do we expect to get from the Arab or Persian entities in the Middle East by walking away from Israel? Do these guys really believe their own garbage? If we want to succeed in the MEast, I say we do just the opposite. Israel is not just our friend. Israel is our little brother. Do Not mess with her or we will kick your ---. Now then, we are not wanting any trouble, and we can just as easily be your friend also, Mr Arab. And by the way, if we are your friend, you will be just as safe as Israel because anyone that messes with you will have to come through us.
Above , although simple, is the basic concept of the strong horse. It is clear and straight forward. No deceit, no misunderstanding. Why is this not the correct strategy? I am just a simple guy, but isn't there an expression that some people are just too smart for their own good?
Edited on Jul 24, 2010 at 9:30amJun '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
The Middle East is not the only place where great numbers of citizens make their political calculations about Israel based on religion. Can't ignore that pressure on the issue.
Genesis 12
1 The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.
2 I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.
3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you."
Jun '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
P.S.
Shockingly, Mr.Poulos, You have linked me to a Frum piece to which I actually agree. My world has been turned inside out.
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
James, thank you for posting this, and for arguing the point with such eloquent restraint. (My initial response didn't quite preserve the decencies of debate.)
This is all very interesting, in a blood-curdling kind of way. It's hard to get past the blitheringly obvious -- that it beggars belief that anyone can say with a straight face that the only reason the US treats Iran as an enemy is because the Israelis and the Gulf States order it to. And to suggest that Turkey's turn towards Iran is not only not cause for concern but a reasonable argument in favor of the Americans' following suit makes the head spin -- where to begin, if people seriously think this way?
They're saying that Israel is so unsavory, so far beneath contempt, that her enemies -- who make no secret of their feelings toward Western culture and values (does that even need to be said?) -- are actually pretty appealing in comparison. I don't expect Americans to support everything Israel does by any means, but throwing Israel to the wolves seems just a little short-sighted. Now I'll excuse myself to go pour some cold water over my head.
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
Glad to be of service. Like Rob, I don't agree down the line with David Frum, but I'm glad he's doing his thing, keeping things interesting and keeping people sharp.
Judith Levy: where to begin, if people seriously think this way?
I think there's a lot of frustration that the position we could define crudely as that of the "reasonable left" -- in Israel and in America -- repeatedly runs up against a wall. In part, that reflects on the limits of left reasonableness, but it also reflects on the ability of the really extreme partisans to thwart hard-earned compromises at every turn. I'd be supremely interested, Judith, to hear your thoughts on Ariel Sharon -- what might have happened, or not happened, if he were still an active statesman today?
Jul '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
We should of course support Israel. Not just because it opposes thugs like Hamas, But because it's a liberal democracy that respects the rights of women/gays/minorities/etc. If there was no strategic advantage whatsoever in supporting Israel (and I think there are advantages), I would still advocate a strong relationship.
There's an old WWII poster in a restaurant I frequent that says, "Americans will always fight for Liberty." If America drops its ideals in favor of a make-believe, cynical advantage, then we will cease to be worthy of the title "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave." It may be true that we'd get along better with thug regimes if we stopped supporting Israel, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Poland, and the Czechs, but it would be a shameful thing to do.
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
James, that's an interesting question, and an impossible one to answer. He was a ferocious warrrior and unequivocal about what he perceived as the critical need to settle as much of historic Israel as possible -- and yet it was he who forced the unilateral withdrawal of the Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. (For the record, I was in favor of the withdrawal for reasons we can discuss another time.) He had his stroke a year after the withdrawal. I think it's possible that he might have considered the snatching of Gilad Shalit from the inside of his own base a cassus belli with Hamas, particularly in view of the escalation of rocket attacks aimed inside Israel from Gaza that followed the withdrawal -- but Shalit was kidnapped six months after Sharon was incapacitated, so we'll never know.
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
And as far as Iran is concerned: even though there was allegedly some Machiavellian reasoning behind Sharon's advocacy of the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza, the sheer fact that he made it happen -- that he of all people should have so dramatically outflanked his own party from the left -- makes it impossible for any of us to speculate about whether he would have hit Iran by now or not. Sharon made his own strategic calculations.
May '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
A society that judges its interests only in terms of security and resources to the exclusion of moral considerations is not a society I wish to live in. To defend Israel is to defend the ideals which we share with her people and which her enemies reject.
May '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
The last time James linked to a Noah Millman piece, I did some reading up and got an idea of his general ouvre. This one cements the impression, which now needs to be undone for me to waste more time on his work. I find him to be one of those guys who is glib and has a high IQ. He also writes like an amoral, condescending, arrogant punk. Go back to the Wall Street TBTF bank and create more incomprehensible "financial derivative products". Better yet, move to Kansas City and get a real job for one year.
The "ultra-realist" school of foreign affairs has been the bane of American foreign policy for sixty years. When this country was founded, it consciously rejected Machiavellian opportunism, opting instead for a moral foundation to its policies. We have failed many times since then, we have had to make compromises many times since then- accepting short-term alliances with bad parties to oppose a worse foe.
But we never lost our way. If we do so now, selling out an ally that welcomes freedom and free speech, to sup with theocratic zealots and government gangsters like Rafsanjani, we surrender our national soul.
May '10
Re: Are We Losing Out By Allying With Israel?
I totally agree. We should stand with Israel against those who would destroy her because they are evil. America should stand for liberty, justice, and freedom around the world. We are the shining city on the hill.