The number of Jews in the U.S. has some effect on overall U.S. support for Israel, but not as much as you might think.
Israel is a strong ally of the U.S. for many reasons. The relationship was forged in the cold war, when it was to the U.S.'s strategic interest to have a western democracy in the Middle East. For 40 years they worked together, signed defense pacts, established trade treaties, etc. Israel became a key market for American defense products. Cultural and economic exchange brought the two countries together.
It bears repeating over and over: Israel is the ONLY western democracy in the region. It deserves our support. Even when it makes mistakes. You don’t abandon your allies every time they do something you don’t totally agree with. If that were the case, no countries would have allies.
Israel will remain a strong ally of the U.S., almost no matter what they do to the Palestinians. The U.S. may censure them, may vote for sanctions against them, but fundamentally, when push comes to shove it will stand by Israel. So will Canada, Britain, and other countries which have forged similar relationships.
Or did you mean a “western” democracy - such as that which results in the sort of election fiasco that saw someone of the calibre of George W Bush gain power?
If there were so many Japanese-Americans, would we have trade agreements with Japan? If there weren’t so many Chinese-Americans, would we have negotiated trade relations with Communist China? If there weren’t so many Irish-Americans, would we have metropolitan police forces?
The answer is: sure. Our policy is NOT based on the sheer numbers of [ethnic/racial]-Americans.
If it were, we’d be doing a helluva lot more to fight poverty in Africa, believe me – there are more black-American voters than any other minority, by a long shot.
Our policy is based on perceived national interests. These include trade (and resources), defense, and supporting democracies – especially those who support us.
I should add (lest I be accused of knee-jerk anti-Americanism) that the OP is probably true, but what of it? I believe there are certain minority lobbies who can exert some influence - I am referring here particularly to the fantastic work done by George Mitchell in bringing Northern Ireland to the Good Friday Agreement. I am sure the amount of governmental time and resources would not have been given had there not been a loud Irish lobby in the US, though the actual Irish population of the US, and the significance of NI’s problems on a world stage are relatively small.
Amen Truth Seeker, I was going to say something about it.
However, my statement was going to be more about calling out the trolls with a name reminiscent of a metallic feudal warrior.
It’s a standard tactic of trolls. It’s part of that “not responding to all the points and picking out some small thing to comment on.” From Niobium Knight’s posts in this and in other threads it is apparent to me that he is trying to get a reaction, and has a very limited understanding of the subject matter, and is most likely an anti-semite. While he’s not very obnoxious on the troll obnoxiometer, I’d say he’s still a veritable troll and we’re all walking loudly over his bridge.
It’s all about the oil. The infadels are looking for anexcuse to conquer the noble, and steal their oil. The Great Satan will use his small proxy in the region to ignite the whole Middle East, and then take over the oil, further solidifying his grip on the world. Only the soldiers of Allah can stop the Great Satan, with a combination of suiside discoteque bombers and school bus bombers. Only the soldiers of Allah can protect the oil, and therefore maintain the balance of power on earth, and eventually spread the will of Allah throughout the lands.
And if there were only fewer Jews in the U.S. the task would be less difficult, for it is the Jews that drive the support of the Great Satan for Israel…No, wait, that doesn’t work, the Great Satan wants the Oil so that means the Great Satan would go after it anyway…but no, it is the Jews that stir the Great Satan from within! Yes, that’s it, I’ve go it now! Its the Jews in the U.S. that make the U.S. do bad things! Aha! I told you so.
Get your story straight.
If there weren’t so many Mexicans in California, would we still have to talk to Vicente Fox?
Personally, I blame the Canadians. Sneaky bastards that they are. Massing just north of the border. Sending those cold air masses down south six months of the year. They’ve even got Floridians and Californians playing that ice hockey now. How can you trust people who live in virtual permafrost and still manage to survive? No doubt a zionist conspiracy, the lot of them.
There aren’t that many Jews in America or even in the world.
At most there’s 18 million Jews in the world (maybe as low as 14 million) and 5 or 6 million of those are in Israel. So there’s 12 million spread throughout the world.
That’s not that many. In fact, they are almost an endangered species!
By comparison there’s about 2 billion Christians and 1 billion muslims.
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