Why the United States Should Not Support Israel

This article is one of two that explores the pros and cons of continuing or abandoning support for Israel . The other article will give reasons why the US should support Israel.

I am a born again, Bible-believing American Christian. So, it might surprise some that I do not give carte blanch support to the modern state of Israel. There are good reasons for and against supporting Israel; this article explores reasons for not supporting Israel.

The US presently, and in times past, has "supported" the nation of Israel. Much is included in the word "support". The US Government has given weapons, money, intelligence, and political support to the nation of Israel. The US was one of the nations that voted at the UN for the creation of a secular, Jewish state in the Middle East and it was one of the first to recognize its statehood. The US has supported Israel in the past and it should not do so any longer.

It is important to note what I am not advocating. I am not saying that we should attack Israel or force a Palestinian state upon it. We should not place an embargo on it. We should just leave it alone. We have given Israel more support than any other nation, and while Israel was in its infancy this did make sense. However, Israel is over sixty years old now and it has definitely grown up.

Israel is a sovereign nation and a competitor to the USA in many industries but especially in the arms market. Israel produces great weapons; America produces great weapons. There is no reason why we should give a US competitor arms or financial support. Israel is rich enough and many of its citizens are more wealthy than our own. We do not need to give them arms or money.

If Israel was such a great friend to the USA then why did it get caught spying on us? This has not gotten near the attention it deserves. Suffice it to state that if nation X is caught spying on nation Y then it is altogether appropriate that nation Y to curtail its relations with nation X.

Israel persecutes Christians. That is right: Israel persecutes Christians. While most of the persecution has been done by private citizen's and groups - though not all, the Israeli government has not done enough to protect Christians within its borders. The usual culprits are Orthodox Jews and Orthodox groups that the government allows to get away with a lot.

Israel does not support Jews. About four years ago the Israeli government forcibly removed Israeli settlers form the West Bank. These settlers were "authorized" by the Israeli government However, the political winds changed and Jews forced Jews off Jewish land all the while knowing the painful history of forced Jewish migrations. Many in Israel are ready to give more land to the Palestinians in exchange for peace. If the Israeli government will not support its own people why should we?

Lastly, and this is only a side benefit, yanking support for Israel might help a small amount in regards to American relations abroad. I doubt this would help much, but it might.

The USA has enough of its own baggage and we do not need to inherit the myriads of problems that come with having a close relationship with Israel. Notice that none of my arguments for withdrawing support for Israel include the treatment of the Palestinian people. There are a lot of bleeding hearts, some even Christians, that actually think there is some mutual good that could come out the situation between Israelis and Palestinians.