Maybe, but going against Isreal has been political suicide up until now. The more protests, the easier it makes deviating from unconditional support, which again, has been unbroken US policy since the beginning of Isreal.
Add to that how important our foothold in Isreal is to the US both militarily and economically (in the form of ensuring the safety of shipping down the seas), it’s a huge deal to go against Isreal.
So yeah, protests help give an excuse. It doesn’t mean it’s changed anyone’s minds on the morality of it all, but that it frees them to actually act on something previously untouchable.
Israel’s popularity has been dropping like a hot rock since the age of social media. But this was even worse. 50% of Americans think Israel has gone too far and another 35% think it’s okay but they shouldn’t keep going. Israel really screwed up.
I don’t have much knowledge here, but my impression is that the US helps protect shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, particularly when there’s trouble. And Isreal being a close ally gives them access to their naval port, and just a friendly place to stage from.
We have a ton of bases in the region. Basically every internationally aligned oil producer lets us dock there. We have specific bases in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Djibouti. On the North side we have NATO bases.
Maybe, but going against Isreal has been political suicide up until now. The more protests, the easier it makes deviating from unconditional support, which again, has been unbroken US policy since the beginning of Isreal.
Add to that how important our foothold in Isreal is to the US both militarily and economically (in the form of ensuring the safety of shipping down the seas), it’s a huge deal to go against Isreal.
So yeah, protests help give an excuse. It doesn’t mean it’s changed anyone’s minds on the morality of it all, but that it frees them to actually act on something previously untouchable.
Israel’s popularity has been dropping like a hot rock since the age of social media. But this was even worse. 50% of Americans think Israel has gone too far and another 35% think it’s okay but they shouldn’t keep going. Israel really screwed up.
Can you explain how Israel would help in ensuring the safety of shipping? I’d think their location doesn’t really make them much of an influence
I don’t have much knowledge here, but my impression is that the US helps protect shipping lanes in the Mediterranean, particularly when there’s trouble. And Isreal being a close ally gives them access to their naval port, and just a friendly place to stage from.
We have a ton of bases in the region. Basically every internationally aligned oil producer lets us dock there. We have specific bases in Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Djibouti. On the North side we have NATO bases.
Israel is absolutely not required.