Should the U.S. support Israel?

[Dyakovo]

Israel has been a steadfast ally.

[Genivaria]

Israel is by far the lesser of the evils in the region. Surrounding it on almost every single side you have a brutal dictatorship.

Israel only gets its support as it stands as the only true democracy in the middle east. As soon as Israel gains a dictator it is gone.

Not as of recently.

[Robert Magoo]

I think the answer is a bit more complex than yes or no. I don't believe the US should be using taxpayer money to fund Israel. Our government should maintain total neutrality. That said, I believe the people should be free to assist the country in whatever way they see fit, and should take advantage of that freedom. Israel is a friend of america.

[Kazomal]

Of course not. Not unless we can use all those taxpayer dollars we give them as leverage to get them to make make concessions we believe are nessecery in the peace process, and steer them towards desired outcomes. The influence of the AIPAC and the Israel lobby over American government is a national security threat.

[Scientific socks]

Israel is by far the lesser of the evils in the region. Surrounding it on almost every single side you have a brutal dictatorship.

Israel only gets its support as it stands as the only true democracy in the middle east. As soon as Israel gains a dictator it is gone.

Not as of recently.

What country in the middle east would you class as a democracy. Egypt with its riots to get rid of its dictator, Irans whom's dictator is building nucleur weapons or Palestine whom has terrorist groups that rule the population. All three of thoes countries create their own refugees some of who will try and flee to Israel. I don't know any Israeli's that flee to Palestine.

[Kazomal]

Not as of recently.

What country in the middle east would you class as a democracy. Egypt with its riots to get rid of its dictator, Irans whom's dictator is building nucleur weapons or Palestine whom has terrorist groups that rule the population. All three of thoes countries create their own refugees some of who will try and flee to Israel. I don't know any Israeli's that flee to Palestine.

Egypt is transitioning from a military dictatorship to a true democracy, and while riots did take place, you can't call the peaceful assemblys in Tah'rir square and elsewhere riots.

Give me concrete proof that Iran is building nuclear weapons. Or is this like when we "knew" that Iraq had WMDs?

True, Hamas controls Gaza, but Fatah controls the West Bank. And I feel like Israel creates a lot of Palestinian refugees by destroying Palestinian towns, then setting up Israeli settlements on the land, destroying basic infrastructure, targeting NGOs and other pillars of civil society, blockading them, keeping food, water, and medical supplies scarce, etc. Also, when you say "Palestinian refugees," you're generally talking about the population of Palestine that lives in refugee camps within Palestine, or the original scattering of Palestinians who were ousted by Israel at Israel's formation, and who have been persecuted by every surrounding state that they tried to flee to. There's not a huge wave of Arab refugees trying to enter Israel.

They don't take Arab refugees in Isreal, it's a Jewish state.

Plenty of Arab Israelis end up fleeing, or being forced out of, Israel, to end up as refugees in Palestine

Regardless, I don't think that main issues are refugees fleeing from one country to another.

[Wienholdland]

I think the answer is a bit more complex than yes or no. I don't believe the US should be using taxpayer money to fund Israel. Our government should maintain total neutrality. That said, I believe the people should be free to assist the country in whatever way they see fit, and should take advantage of that freedom. Israel is a friend of america.

Agreed 100%.

[Herrebrugh]

Even though I'm all for the Isreali state, I don't think that American support is benificial in any way.

[Kazomal]

Even though I'm all for the Isreali state, I don't think that American support is benificial in any way.

It would be if we could use that money as leverage to guide Israel towards desired outcomes. Right now, Israel gets the money, and Israel calls the shots. We have no influence over them, but they have tremendous influence over our government. That is a problem.

[Sovereign Spirits]

I'm not interested in the superficial farce of nation-to-nation relations. I am interested, however, in the different groups and sects which ally amongst themselves independently of any official international relationship. With that said, I believe that the greatest duty we as Americans have is to help spread the message of freedom to the peoples of these nations. I do not believe invading other nations or assisting in the invasion of other nations is productive towards this goal.