On Saturday, President Trump reported that he’d spoken with Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu about a possible “Mutual Defense Treaty” between the US and Israel, and that he hopes he can continue those talks after the elections.
Israel is set to go to the polls this week, and it is expected to be a very close finish. President Trump clearly prefers Netanyahu, and his comments are likely at least partially a cynical attempt to boost Netanyahu in the last few days.
Netanyahu has been keen on this treaty, which would treat any attack on Israel as an attack on the United States, and that position has considerable support from a number of politicians who are eager to present themselves as pro-Israel. That’s something Trump likely would also be interested in doing.
Trump has repeatedly shown himself to be comfortable taking to Twitter ahead of other nations’ elections, and making comments on his preferred outcome. While other US presidents have done that to an extent, it is exceedingly rare for any US officials to say anything that might be seen as an attempt to sway an Israeli election one way or another.
Well, on the plus side, it would be a little harder to convince people that you’re not going to war for Israel…
Yeah, let’s expend more American blood & treasure for deadbeat moocher Israel.
I guess so when the “socialist” invasion of the US happens, Israel will send troops…..;?)
Dave, Ya,,to hunt down and kill all remaining survivors of the USS Liberty massacre!! 🙁
a) It’s not an invasion if they’re elected. I think you’re joking, but that’s a dangerous point of view to hold, it justifies violent action against those legitimately elected and those who elected them.
b) Socialism is all about abolishing private ownership and putting the means of production in the hands of the workers. There are exactly zero politicians in DC advocating for anything remotely close to this. The “worst” that the Dems are proposing is socialised healthcare, which many other first-world democracies have already, and free state college, which will also benefit society as a whole. The GOP has successfully pushed politics so far to the right in this country that the ACA, which was a giant boon for private medical insurance companies, and a carbon copy of a *Heritage Foundation* idea, was derided as “socialism,” when in reality it’s rampant corporatism.
c) The last 40 years of federal politics has been all about making life easy for the already well-to-do, busting unions, and slashing social safety nets, anything that benefits those of us who don’t make 6 figures a year. And then they clutch their pearls like socialised health care is going to be the downfall of America. We already spend over 700 billion dollars yearly on “defense,” and Christ only knows where most of that money goes (and even He might not know, the DOD is pretty opaque!)
Well, I did add my sarcasm face…..
;?)
The gop 2020 campaign is focused on the “invasion ” at the border, and “Venezuelan style socialism” taking over the US. You would be hard pressed to find in the gop base , someone who could define socialism beyond Mao and Stalin.
McConnell and Schumer in the Senate, and Pelosi/Hoyer in the House would only be too have to approve such a treaty.
98 percent of Congress is Zionist.
Prez. Trump at times just appears as brain dead,,he is lucky the demoncrats are worse. We need Tulsi,,maybe…but then she would have to end up pledging her allegiance to that foreign state, just like almost all other DC Ghouls have done.
The Democrats aren’t worse. The other Republicans aren’t worse. Anybody on the ticket won’t be worse. Biden would be an equal like the witch was.
wars, Of course you would say that,,fully expected,,surprise me sometime! 🙂
Trump proves my point on a daily basis.
And just like she already has.
Thomas,,OUCH!!!!
Not brain dead, he just has little in the way of morals. He’s getting a ton of money from wealthy pro-Netanyahu donors, so he advocates that position. He openly glorified the pay-for-play system we have in American politics while running for President, and the crowd cheered.
To me, a mutual defense treaty only makes sense between equally sized countries – equally sized as to troop numbers, ability to pay; and equal as to the possibility of being attacked. This Israel-American mutual defense treaty is like a big, strong guy and a little smart-mouthed jerk going into a Biker bar – guess who is going to start trouble and guess who is going to have to do 90% of the fist-fighting.
Israel’s not even an ally of ours, richardvajs; it’s our mortal enemy. It would be suicidal for the US to sign a mutual defense treaty with such an enemy.
Remember, it was Israel who attacked the USS Liberty, an unarmed communications ship, in International waters and murdered 34 sailors and injured 171 more in the June, 1967 Six-Day War. The Israeli pilots knew it was an American ship (they saw the huge US flag waving near the bow).
DJT would be a stupid fool to sign a mutual defense treaty with such an enemy as Israel. As Bastiat rightly said, “Israel will never defend the US, regardless of what a treaty says. They’re takers of American taxpayer dollars, and warmongering liars.”
I think people should understand that Israel is not an ally, but is instead an objective of American policy. In fact, to many people, the only objective of American policy. And the point of the American military. Not to defend the United States, but to defend Israel.
Gotta keep that AIPAC and other Israel lobbies’ money coming into Wash. for campaigns. That’s the only reason Israel is a sacred cow in Wash.
Eileen Kuch, I can see your arguments – your facts are right. But why can’t most Americans see your points? Is it stupidity or is the belief in Israel as the chosen one really that deep?
I had the personal experience that as a Sunday School teacher (in a supposedly non-violent, New Testament oriented Christian denomination) of being verbally attacked by the preacher because I asked my Sunday School class to comment upon God’s asking Joshua to lead in the genocidal slaughter of God’s other children. The preacher went total postal because he realized that I was leading up to modern day’s Israel’s genocide of the Palestinians. His commitment to the teachings of Jesus went out of the window as soon Hebrew barbarity and exclusivity came in the door.
The preachers and politicians killed Christ, and still are.
Soooo if US forces are attacked in, say, Afghanistan or Iraq can we expect Israel to leap to our defense and send troops and tanks and planes to help?
Well, that wouldn’t be “defense.”
That said, presumably Israel would send a token force to every future US military adventure, while expecting a massive US military response every time it yelled “Mom, he hit me back FIRST.”
What a horrible idea.
Trump thinks he’s the first one to think of this? As usual, no. This has been tried before, but there was a problem.
When American officers visited Israel to discuss such a treaty, the first thing they did was ask Israel for a map indicating what territory the United States would be committing itself to mutually defend.
And the Israeli side was unable to provide one.
Where does Israel end? Israel pre-1967? Israel plus the West Bank? What about the Shabaa farms in Lebanon?
The Israeli military was unable to provide the United States with a map indicating Israel’s borders.
You can’t very easily agree to mutual defense when the other party won’t tell you where their country is.
How can you have a mutual defense treaty with a country that has no real internationally recognized borders and is continually on the offense, attacking their neighbors and subjugating the indigenous inhabitants of the land they occupy? Also, what the hell is “mutual” about it? Is Israel ever going to come to our defense if we were attacked? Hell, no! If anything, they would be doing the attacking, just like the “dancing Israelis” (Mossad) did on 9/11.
In other words, the US will do Israel’s dirty work with our lives and money and Nutanyahoos good looks.
PLEASE READ THIS, IT SHOWS HOW DEEP IT GOES: Let’s not forget the USS Liberty. The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea
attack killed 34 crew members, wounded 171 crew members, and severely
damaged the ship. At the time, the ship was in international waters
north of the Sinai Peninsula. NOW GET THIS: An American Legion
membership card fluttering down and landing softly on the blouse of an
American Legion clerk results in the USS Liberty Veterans Association
being BANNED from The American Legion National Convention FOREVER. “You will not discuss the attack with anyone. Once the Court of Inquiry
findings are released you will not contradict them. This order will
remain in effect after you are discharged from the Navy. If you violate
this order you will be prosecuted and will spend a considerable amount
of time in a Federal Prison.”
Of course, the goal for this sort of talk is to ramp up “justification” for the US directly aiding Israel in its next war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. And then of course later in the inevitable war between Israel and Iran – which the US will prosecute for Israel.
Note that the US has sent a destroyer to Beirut’s port – the first time since 1984. This is another move to send a signal to Israel that the US has Israel’s back in the next Lebanon war.