There is no doubt where the United States stands: the Hamas attack was pure evil, and Israel gets its full support, President Joe Biden said on Tuesday. In the past, the US has asked Israel to show restraint and composure when responding to attacks by militant Palestinians. That call did not come now. President Joe Biden has rarely shown so much emotion and anger as when he spoke on Tuesday about the attacks on Israel. Photo: AP Israel will get the help they ask for, the president has promised. The US stands behind Israel Joe Biden draws historical lines and calls Hamas’s terror the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. In the period 1938–1945, more than 6 million Jews were killed during the Nazi genocide. America’s deep support for Israel has roots in World War II and the Cold War. Then-President Harry Truman was the first international leader to recognize the State of Israel when it was established 75 years ago. The Middle East became the arena for the struggle for influence and military rivalry. Here there were oil reserves and important shipping lanes such as the Suez Canal. Israel was the only democratic country in the region. The close bond became even stronger when Israel was at war with neighboring countries. Since the Six Day War in 1967, Israel has been the country that has received the most money overall from the United States to protect itself against threats from its Arab neighbors. Israel’s missile shield tries to stop rockets fired from Gaza. This photo was taken in Ashkelon earlier this week. Photo: Reuters In military terms alone, high-tech Israel receives over NOK 35 billion a year from the USA. This corresponds to around NOK 100 million a day, which can be used to purchase ammunition and weapons for the missile shield, for example. Popular support for Israel The Israeli political lobby in the US remains powerful even though public opinion is changing. Just over half of Americans have a positive view of Israel. A demonstration in Miami in support of Israel this week. Photo: AP According to Gallup polls, for the first time Democrats sympathize more with Palestinians than Israelis. In one year, page switching has increased by 11 percentage points. Before the war broke out, 49 percent of Democrats said they supported the Palestinians, compared to 38 percent for Israel. Republicans and independents still hold a button on Israel. Political support is particularly strong on the right, but varies according to age and religious beliefs, the research institute Pew’s review shows. Joe Biden meets Jewish community leaders and says that security is also being increased around Jewish gathering places in the United States. Photo: Reuters Friends and allies the US has never let Israel down, and the US guards Israel’s back in the UN Security Council. Although contact has varied under different presidents and governments, Israel is the most important ally in the Middle East and one of America’s extra close friends. Some believe only Britain, with its “special relationship” with the United States, surpasses Israel’s friendship and cooperation. Various events, such as the controversial legal reforms recently, caused the White House to express its criticism of the development of democracy under Benjamin Netanyahu. The US has also criticized the Israeli government’s expansion of the illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was not invited to Biden’s office in Washington when he attended the UN summit week this autumn. Foreign Minister Antony Blinken talks to people at a center in Tel Aviv, which helps the victims of the Hamas terror. Photo: AP US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has already visited Israel to show solidarity after the large and bloody attack. Blinken is now traveling around the region, in a diplomatic attempt to prevent the conflict from spreading. The United States has also been drawn more closely into the war since American hostages have been taken and taken to Gaza. Currently no ground forces It is not appropriate to send US soldiers, according to the authorities, but the US will cooperate with Israel in other ways to get the hostages released. The US has moved the world’s largest aircraft carrier closer to Israel in the Mediterranean. Other US military capabilities, both ships and aircraft, are now in the Mediterranean to deter armed actors in the region from interfering. Burning of Israeli flags is common in Iran. This photo is from April when Iranians marked Quds Day in support of the Palestinians. Photo: Reuters President Joe Biden says he has made it clear to Iran that the country must be careful when tensions rise. Iran supports Hamas, including financially, but the White House has not found links to Iran being directly involved in the attack. Iran’s religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has celebrated and, via a spokesperson, called the Hamas attack a “proud operation”. Jewish Connections Although only 2.5 percent of the American population claims to be American Jews, there are strong feelings, familial ties, and, not least, cultural and economic ties. The United States has informed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of the importance of following the international law of war. But militarily and morally, the US stands behind Israel’s right to self-defense. Photo: AP Earlier this year, Foreign Minister Blinken shared his personal story about his stepfather Samuel Pisar. Polish Pisar was the only family member to survive the Nazi genocide of Jews. Blinken says that the Hamas movement does not represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people. The US gathers support for Israel US presidents have backed the proposal for a two-state solution to resolve the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. This means that the Palestinians get their own state next to Israel, in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza. Two states were the goal of the Oslo agreement, which was signed 30 years ago. Nevertheless, peace negotiations have not been a priority for ten years. A smeared painting on the wall separating Israel and Bethlehem shows former US President Donald Trump. Photo: AFP President Donald Trump made the approach more difficult when he moved the US embassy to Jerusalem and accepted Jewish settlements in the West Bank. But the signal, also from Trump’s administration, was still two states side by side. Joe Biden’s focus has been normalization between Arab states and Israel. Biden’s dream is a historic foreign policy victory before next spring. Now the war has meant that attempts to reach an agreement between Saudi Arabia and Israel have been put on hold. The negotiations include, among other things, nuclear power, recognition of Israel and security guarantees for Saudi Arabia.
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That is why America’s relationship with Israel is so special – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
