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Which sentence best describes the US-Israeli relationship? (asked from US point of view)
We don't support Israel as much as we should. 0 (0%)
Strong and healthy, the way it should be. 8 (42.1%)
Perhaps a bit too one-sided for my taste. 5 (26.3%)
Too strong - it would be in our interest to adopt a more neutral stance. 6 (31.6%)
Total Votes: 19
Poll: The US-Israeli relationship.
Topic Started: Mar 11 2006, 10:13 AM (224 Views)
jon-nyc
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Cheers
(question is asked from US point of view)
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
Israel was an important ally during the cold war. Perhaps our most important. We established an extremely important alliance with them. It is important to continue this relationship today. To have a strong democratic ally in the Middle East. In order for them to remain viable, they need the support and weight of the US behind them.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
Independently of the merits of our having a strong relationship with Israel, isn't the specific reason you cite something of a tautology? We should have a strong relationship with them so that we have a strong ally? (ok, so you qualified it by saying 'in the middle east').

But really, while we should try to be friendly with any democracy, why should our relationship with Israel be stronger than, say, India?
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
Nobody's saying that in todays world, it should be any closer than with India. In fact, I think we need to take more steps to work with India more, and bring them closer as an ally. Also, I deleted the second part of my post, as I couldn't find the right way to express myself. I do believe that our relationship with Israel needs to change somewhat. We do need to start bringing a little more pressure on them, as well as the Palestinians. We do need to be a little more critical of their actions. Especially as we try to enlarge our sphere of influence in the Middle East.
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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Luke's Dad
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Emperor Pengin
BTW, I was the one that voted "A little too onesided......"
The problem with having an open mind is that people keep trying to put things in it.
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jon-nyc
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Cheers
bumping this, want to get some more opinions.
In my defense, I was left unsupervised.
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John D'Oh
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MAMIL
I'd also go with a little too one-sided. I've found it very noticeable since coming to the US from the UK that there is a markedly different and less critical attitude towards Israel over here, although obviously not from everyone. From a British perspective, ties with India, and to a lesser extent Pakistan, have been easily as important as those with Israel, due to the legacy of Empire and Commonwealth.

Having said that, I do think that a positive relationship with Israel is very important, at least until the rest of the Middle East achieves some semblance of democracy (I nearly wrote civilisation, but that might be a little unfair), which could take a while.
What do you mean "we", have you got a mouse in your pocket?
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