# US support of Israel (from Hamas war discussion thread)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-support-of-israel-from-hamas-war-discussion-thread/994802>\
**Category:** Politics & Elections\
**Tags:** israel-hamas-war\
**Created:** [December 18, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-support-of-israel-from-hamas-war-discussion-thread/994802 "2023-12-18T20:35:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 34

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**Author:** ![Polerius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d78d45/32.png) [@Polerius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polerius)\
**Post date:** [December 20, 2023, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-support-of-israel-from-hamas-war-discussion-thread/994802/34 "2023-12-20T04:44:38Z")

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From the [sister thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/2782)

> [@Discussion thread for the Hamas Attacks Israel thread, October 2023](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/discussion-thread-for-the-hamas-attacks-israel-thread-october-2023/991317/2784):
>
> Because Israel is the toehold for the US in the Middle East. If the US pulled all support from Israel they’d be hard pressed to defend themselves for long. The Israeli military is excellent but without outside aid Israel’s enemies would eventually overwhelm them. Especially with Russia aiding them. Which would then give Russia influence over the whole region.

Can we play this out to its conclusion?

US pulls out of the Middle East, eventually Arab nations overwhelm Israel, with the help of Russia. Russian influence in the Middle East increases.

Now what? What does that mean for the US?

Will Russia control oil to such a degree that it will starve the US? Does the US have enough oil to sustain itself? (AFAIK US is an exporter of oil)

In a world were the US is a net exporter of oil, what does losing influence in the Middle East mean? China seems to not have much influence in the middle east and they seem to be doing OK.

I don’t have the answers to the above questions. I’m not an expert in geopolitics, which is why I’m asking here, since I assume a few of you know more about how this will play out.

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