Should the US provide less support for Israel?

It should all go to Ukraine, because they are the ones that actually need it.

Absolutely not.
If the Palestinians want my support (or lack of support for their enemies), they shouldn’t get videotaped kidnapping women and children.

@filmfann But its OK when Israel kidnaps Palestinian women and children?

I think their support should come with strong conditions like the declaration of a cease fire, access for humanitarian aid to Gaza and a pledge to withdraw or limit settlements on the West Bank.

No. But I agree with @ragingloli that Ukraine needs more support.

Israel should be given as much aid as possible for the expansion and maintenance of the Iron Dome defense system (or future iterations) and the sharing of intelligence on terrorist leaders. Medical supplies should also be provided. No additional military aid should be provided until Israel is in full compliance with international law and violators of the Geneva convention submit for trial in The Hague. The US should make it clear to the world that any invasion of Israel will be prevented by the US military. That is sufficient security for Israel.

Gaza/Israel is an irreconcilable situation that is going to just go on forever. Both sides provoke each other, both sides misbehave, and both sides largely have no political choice but to keep riding the time loop they’re stuck in.

But Israel is the only high-functioning democracy in the region, and are surrounded by enemies. I think we should continue to support them, but we should never stop nudging them to stop provoking.

I do third @ragingloli in the Ukraine is the more important situation. Unlike Gaza, the Russo-Ukraine war has innumerable positive geopolitical side effects (although war itself it always awful).

Perhaps most importantly, Winnie the Pooh is watching this war, and if he thinks all it takes for the west to give up is to prolong the war to 2 years, he’s pretty guaranteed to invade Taiwan.

Yes.

We certainly should not be giving billions in military aid to fund what is essentially collective punishment of the Palestinian people. But considering that the United States executive is willing to bypass congress to send more weapons to Israel, I’d say there’s little chance of modifying this relationship. Israel knows they would not exist without U.S. aid.

I remember Biden being shocked to his core by Russian atrocities in Ukraine. And now he is signing off on weaponry that is inflicting even greater destruction in Gaza in a very one-sided war. It doesn’t make sense.

It’s a completely pointless question.

The military-industrial complex does what it wants regardless of your feelings or even voting prowess.

@flutherother I do think there is back channel pressure being put on Netanyahu to desist but I wish it were more overt.

It’s the same over here. Neither the government nor the main opposition party is willing to come out openly to say it should stop. Back channel pressure is all very well but it isn’t good enough. It seems an obvious time to speak out for human values. If not now, when?

@flutherother I agree.

Yes. It should provide nothing.

I’m not to the point of saying provide less support, but I am ok with Biden voicing his concern for the Palestinians being harmed and killed and even eventually maybe attaching some stipulations to help aid the Palestinians for Israel to receive the money or arms or whatever we are providing.

We don’t know all that is being said and negotiated behind closed doors between the Israelis, Palestinians, Saudis, Jordan, and other nations.

It is a horrible situation. I don’t see how it will ever get resolved. I asked someone I know who used to be a JAG lawyer and advise on war crimes about the current situation and he said for sure Hamas committed war crimes. He said with Israel we don’t know yet. He said whenever these things are investigated it almost always is not as it seems. He said politicians and news reports do not give the general population a very clear picture of the actual situation.

He lived in the Middle East for years, his wife happens to be Iranian, not that it matters, and I asked him if he thinks there will ever be a two state peace treaty, and he said maybe 1% chance. Oy.