Israel Firster??? That May Make YOU a Firster!

In recent months I have seen an uptick in the use of the term "Israel-firster". This term is at times used to besmirch consistently pro-Israel conservatives, but more often it is applied to any one who advocates strongly on behalf of Israel, especially if they happen to be Jewish. Unless the advocate is Israeli, the term implies, they are disloyal to America or whatever country the individual is from because they put Israel first.

To be fair, the abusers of this term are simply following their antecedents. The canard that Jews are disloyal to their country of citizenship is a as old as the bible. Pharaoh decreed that the Jews be enslaved because “they will side with our enemies”. Over 600 years later the viceroy to the Persian king Xerxes (though the exact king is disputed, Purim) passed a decree ordering the death of every single Jew in the Persian empire. Jews celebrate our victory over Pharaoh’s and Haman’s hate on Passover and Purim respectively. In pre-war Germany, despite heavy Jewish assimilation (including serving disproportionally in the Kaisers army, and the dominance of reform Judaism which was centered on giving up the central Jewish belief in the coming of the Messiah and the return to Israel), the claim that Jews were disloyal was prevalent. In that case the Jews were not as lucky.

So the users of the term Israel firsters have quite the pedigree.

But it is not enough to call them what they primarily are, anti-Semites, because they will respond “you always silence your critics by calling them anti-Semites”. Instead here is a logical argument that both refutes their claim and exposes them for what they, chiefly, are.

People that besmirch patriots of Jewish origin as Israeli firsters, shout “they push America into wars and cause American blood and treasure to be spilled for their good". Another claim they make is that it is obvious America should be like the rest of the world and condemn Israel so that we won’t be hated, but because of the “lobby” or because of Israeli firsters, America puts itself on the line for Israel.

The implication here is that any time America goes to war against an enemy that happens to also be an enemy of Israel, America is doing it to its own detriment. Or that when America gives loan guarantees or military hardware, to Israel, it causes a net loss for America. Or that America puts Turkey and Erdogan in its place, not because of their actions against Israel which strategically hurt America, but because Israel firsters are insidiously manipulating American politics.

Like the Turkish claims prevalent in Turkey, these canards are easily debunked.

America's war in Iraq may have been to the benefit of Israel, but it benefited Iran, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait even more. Indeed the war eliminated Saddam, a man who invaded Kuawit and Iran and launched scuds into Saudi Arabia and Israel. Furthermore it made Iran, Israel’s biggest enemy, stronger because it eliminated Iran’s main secular rival/threat on its border. As for America fighting Israel’s wars with no Israeli blood being sacrificed: It is well known that America refused direct Israeli help during the first and the second Gulf wars so as not to openly antagonize the Arab street which backed America's intervention in Iraq (1). It is equally known that when Israeli population centers were attacked with Iraqi scuds during Gulf one, it did not respond so as not to jeopardize the American led coalition. Of course Israel’s intelligence in the middle-East is fully utilized by America and its real allies.

Also the firsters refuse to acknowledge that a significant majority of Americans, in every poll, consistently support Israel over its neighbors, to a tune of 60-40. They like to blame the media, as if there are not major media sources that are unrelenting in their biased criticism of Israel -New York Times and Huffington Post just to name two.

Finally what really unmasks those making Israel firster accusations is the fact that they never acknowledge that there are overriding political, strategic, and ideological reasons for America's support for Israel. Instead they say "look the whole world is against Israel", as if that’s a logical reason to stop supporting Israel. Obama reached out to the Muslim world. Those that were pro-America in the past continue to be so. Those that weren’t are no closer. It is not America's support for Israel that decides who supports or opposes America.

For those that dispute the above claims please take a moment from writing baseless comments on Huffington Post and educate yourself about the logical reasons for those that support Israel’s all-pervasive relationship with America. For example, http://pairspective.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=94:the-linkers-and-the-thinkers-is-americas-support-for-israel-hurting-america-part-3&catid=35:highlights&Itemid=92. Instead of hypothesizing that the reason they hate us is because we support Israel… ask yourself why do YOU hate Israel? Are you projecting your feelings on others?

Finally, Jews in America have every reason to support America's interests. After all it is this country that protects our freedoms. It is in this country where we are able to shine and succeed, and it is this country that supports our right to advocate on behalf of the land where our mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers live -to protect itself and succeed despite all the hate directed at it. Why do we love America? It is because this is a country that stands up for the truth, and goes against the irrational populist tides that are once again inundating the old world.

So why do some living in America and taking advantage of this great country attack America's choice -not criticize, not debate, but attack? Furthermore, why do most of these people, whom you derogatorily call flag wavers, or Israel firsters, support America's choice? Is it because they are in reality American firsters?!

To be fair just as all criticism of Israel and its supporters is not anti-Semitic so too are some who use the obnoxious term Israel firsters, not motivated by anti-Semitism. Rather they irrationally assume that every action that perpetuates a grievance they have towards American policy can’t be motivated by the desire, first and foremost, for this country to succeed. You think that it’s bad for this country. They think it is good. Fine, but don’t blindly conclude that they must be Israel firsters, because they can just as easily conclude that you put anti-Semitism, Hamas, Turkey, Islam, Iran, China, Congo, Sudan, Libya, North-Korea, and/or all the above terrorists before the good of our country. Which by the way makes YOU A FIRSTER!

The Linkers and the Thinkers": Is Americas Support For Israel Hurting America (1)

Israel's decision to continue building homes for Jews in East Jerusalem has raised the ire of the Obama administration. Some have argued that the anger was fostered by the timing of the Israeli foreign ministries announcement to build 1,600 homes -Vice President Biden was in Israel pushing to renew the peace initiative. However it is likely that the Obama administration is following through on its promise to place the Israeli/Palestinian conflict on top of its agenda.

There are a number of interesting developments that affirm this latter perspective.

CENTCOM Chief David Petraeus testified in front of a Senate Armed Service Committee that Israels decision to build in West-Jerusalem is weakening Americas military actions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hillary Clinton continued this trend of thought when she addressed AIPAC and warned Israel against building, what this administration has termed, settlements. While debka.com reports that America has gone so far as to threaten to place American military installations in the West bank, which is tantamount to America giving the Palestinians an American security shield. This shield would effectively undermine Israeli deterrence in a future conflict with West-bank terrorism . Indeed these policies seem to be driven by more then mere timing issues. It is more likely that they reflect an underlying ideology translated into a Middle-East policy.

This ideology is known as "linkage". Linkage is not a new concept, on the contrary it is a reoccurring philosophy that was most prevalent amongst American policy makers in the Carter administration. Linkage proposes:
1.that the stability of the entire Middle-East is subject to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict.
2. if America supports Israel that is not at peace with its Arab neighbors then America suffers politically and strategically.
3. most if not all of the conflicts in the so called larger middle-east (Pakistan, Afghanistan etc.) are spurred on and exasperated by the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

Opponents of the Linkage argument, most notably Dennis Ross, argue that the conflict between al-Qaida and America, Yemen's war with its Houthi rebels, or Iran's drive for Nuclear weapons would occur regardless of Israels existence or its conflict with some of its neighbors.

The implications of linkage are clear. America will suffer strategically as long as Israel has not made peace with its Arab neighbors. Israels Arab neighbors will not make peace with Israel as long as the Palestinians are unhappy. Thus it is in Americas SUPREME interest to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.

To be clear ALL agree that it is in Americas interest, as well the Israelis for that matter, to resolve the conflict. However the "Linkers" see it as the most pressing issue in the Middle-East that must be resolved at all costs -even forcing Israel into submitting to International dictates of where Israelis can live in Israel.

To many in America and Israel, that I term the "Thinkers" (because their arguments are very theoretical), the Linkers argument is the result of the realization that on the moral battle-ground it is nearly impossible to defeat supporters of Israel. So they created a strategic reason to pressure Israel. Moreover the linkers are undermined by the fact that they would never, (and have never argued) that American ties with China are a moral or strategic liability. I.e. that by supporting China America loses strategic sway on the weaker nations around china (including Japan, India, and Taiwan).

The Linkers respond that the bottom line is that Al-Qaida, Palestinian, and a plethora of other terrorist groups have pointed to Americas support for Israel as the reason for their attacks. The only reason America supports Israel is because of the nefarious Israeli lobby which stifles criticisms of Israel.

Whatever your opinion on this issue it is important to familiar with the perspectives that surround it, if only to be able to refute misinformation.

Part two of this discussion will analyze the "Linkers" arguments.
Part three will look at the "Thinkers" arguments.