a passionate attachment of one Nation for another produces a variety of evils. Sympathy for the favourite nation, facilitating the illusion of an imaginary common interest, in cases where no real common interest exists, and infusing into one the enmities of the other, betrays the former into a participation in the quarrels & Wars of the latter, without adequate inducement or justification:
— George Washington’s Farewell Address, 1796
Recently, Military Times reported that a “real policy push emerged in 2024 to extend certain legal protections to Americans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF),” and added that, “There is no comparable US program extending …. veterans’ benefits to Americans serving in other foreign militaries.”
The story went viral on social channels as many people expressed outrage that the U.S. taxpayer would reward Americans who served a foreign nation, let alone one credibly accused of genocide and apartheid. The bill, as of writing, is unlikely to become law, but it still represents another remarkable insistence of Congressional devotion to Israel that is unbecoming for a sovereign nation. Too many members of Congress behave as if America is Israel’s vassal rather than Israel being our client.
Let us count the ways:
Israel is the number one recipient of U.S. aid, totaling nearly $200 billion since 1948, even though Israel is one of the wealthiest countries on the planet with a GDP per capita greater than many Western European nations.
Compare U.S. aid to Israel to the American assistance to Taiwan, which is significantly less. Taiwan is a liberal democracy that secures equal rights for all its citizens while occupying no other land — and it actually faces a potentially existential threat from a much larger, nuclear-armed China just 50 miles off its coast. Israel is an apartheid state that occupies millions of stateless people and refuses to secure equal rights even for its non-Jewish minority. Moreover, unlike Taiwan, which is not recognized as independent by any of its neighbors, Israel is a regional military superpower with nuclear weapons and full diplomatic relations with many of its neighbors. In this contest, who is more worthy of generous U.S. support? But, as always, Congress devotes itself to Israel.
Now, let’s consider how Congressional leaders, state legislatures, and the Trump White House are all trying to restrict our constitutional rights to shield Israel from criticism and accountability for its crimes against humanity. Over 30 states have passed anti-BDS laws that adversely impact their residents’ right to free speech, right to petition, and right to assembly if they advocate for a boycott of Israel – or even if they just refuse to sign a pledge to not boycott Israel. Americans boycott states left and right — North Carolina, after its anti-trans bathroom bill was the target of boycotts — but only Israel is protected this way at the expense of our basic rights. Congress has similarly passed resolutions and bills (in one house, the Senate) attacking BDS. And the Trump Administration is busy undercutting academic freedom in attempts to impose pro-Israel politics on campuses, even at the expense of undermining American research in university labs.
Third, the U.S. State Department recently announced that a new “US immigration policy could see green card applicants rejected for anti-Israel social media posts,” and this is after announcing last year that the State Department “regularly weighed criticism of Israel when determining whether to deny or revoke student visas.”
It is normal for nations to reject applications from individuals perceived to be hostile to the nation, but it is abnormal to reject people because of their views of a foreign nation. American policymakers are increasingly treating Israel as if it were the 51st state. As if we exist to serve them. In fact, sometimes the U.S. government even agrees to terms more favorable to Israel than its own people.
Consider the Visa Waiver Program. Dozens of nations have signed agreements with the U.S. to allow for visa-free travel between countries. Israel has always wanted to be included in the VWP, except it never wanted to reciprocate visa-free travel for Americans going to Israel since it prefers to discriminate against Arab and Muslim Americans, and any American who is sympathetic to Palestinians. Under the Obama Administration, the White House made it clear that Israel’s inclusion would be contingent on reciprocity. But then Biden came along and agreed to let Israel in on terms that still permit Israel to discriminate, while Israelis would have free rein in the U.S. This is the American government going on record that it will treat Israelis better than it expects Israel to treat Americans.
This disregard for American life — this prioritizing of Israel over Americans — becomes more egregious when lives are lost. The U.S. government has refused to hold Israel accountable for the killing of American civilians by the IDF, including teenagers. Instead, the U.S. has permitted Israel to run its own shambolic investigations, merely rotate IDF soldiers into another unit, and call it a day. For American politicians, U.S. lives count for nothing next to maintaining unconditional support for Israel.
Of course, Congressional representatives have no time to worry about Americans killed by Israel when they are nearly all jumping over one another to sponsor pro-Israel legislation. Go to Congress.gov and search Israel to see how many pro-Israel bills are introduced every year by our ostensible representatives. About 100 just this Congressional term.
The U.S.-Israel relationship is not normal. No self-respecting nation would undermine the rights and very lives of its people for the sake of catering to the whims of a foreign nation, one that is not an asset but a drain on American resources, lives, and attention. Even putatively Israeli benefits to America — like Iron Dome — are financed by U.S. taxpayers. This is a Zionist self-serving argument: Pocket aid, develop stuff, and then present it as a gift for America from Israel when the U.S. made it possible to begin with.
The U.S.-Israel relationship is abnormal because Israel has one thing no other nation has: A powerful domestic lobby. Until Israel can no longer run interference in American politics, the American people will be fated to share their democracy with a foreign state.
