Israel-Gaza war live: Israel warns it could take Lebanon ‘back to the Stone Age’ as defence minister wraps up Washington trip

RubberDuck@lemmy.world to World News@lemmy.world – 158 points –
Israel-Gaza war live: Israel warns it could take Lebanon ‘back to the Stone Age’ as defence minister wraps up Washington trip
theguardian.com
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After WW2 everyone felt really bad. And it was a west-leaning country in a region full of oil and big trade routes.

Most of the calculus has slowly changed over the years. The Congressionally-passed treaties all still remain though.

And it was a west-leaning country in a region full of oil and big trade routes.

Other way around - their loyalties weren't firmly lodged with either of the superpowers, so the US in the 70s and 80s put a lot of time and effort into wooing them.

Their loyalties still aren't lodged with anyone, but we keep sucking them off anyway.

Their loyalties still aren’t lodged with anyone, but we keep sucking them off anyway.

Well, I shit at Israel every day, but they would be nuts to "lodge their loyalties" when that means loss of such leverage.

Contrary to the delusions of realpolitik types, international relations are a matter of relations, not purely moment-to-moment vulture capitalist behavior. Israel is coasting on internal factors within the US government at present - the lack of actual mutual loyalty means that, should those internal factors (Israeli dark money and the political influence of evangelical millenarians) ever weaken, the institutions of the US will see little reason not to throw Israel to the wolves.

Israeli dark money

... is something important enough to kill a 100 JFKs for.

It's a state sporting F35s and such.

and the political influence of evangelical millenarians

Can't speak about them, I don't live in the US and the fact of such a group existing is wild for me.

… is something important enough to kill a 100 JFKs for.

To the Israelis, maybe. To Americans, Israeli money has become a polarizing issue over the past decade.

It’s a state sporting F35s and such.

Man, plenty of US allies are involved in the F-35 program and the US doesn't bend over backwards for them. It's really not that important in the grand scheme of US-Israeli relations.

Those plenty are not so numerous if we consider how many nation-states there are on the globe.

It seems people forgot USS Liberty