# Why does the U.S. government support Israel? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 7, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741 "2004-08-07T05:28:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/61 "2004-08-09T19:41:12Z")
> [@Boy Scout11](#): > > I would ask if you really know who controlls our media and how can you best explain it? Yes, I control the media. All of it. I control the television news, the newspapers, the internet bloggers, the radio networks and this message board. Any and all comments that I do not approve of are currently being deleted and the originators of those comments fired from their cushy media jobs. And if the rest of you want to keep your media positions, you’d better stick to the script! :rolleyes: Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/62 "2004-08-09T19:51:08Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Yes, I control the media. All of it. I control the television news, the newspapers, the internet bloggers, the radio networks and this message board. Any and all comments that I do not approve of are currently being deleted and the originators of those comments fired from their cushy media jobs. And if the rest of you want to keep your media positions, you’d better stick to the script! > > :rolleyes: > > Zev Steinhardt In that case, can you do something about those stupid reality shows? 'Cause I really hate those. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/63 "2004-08-09T19:51:24Z")
Like I was saying, the media is controlled by a bunch of big conglomerates and also by **Zev**. But please, **Boy Scout1** , I’d like to know what factors I’m not considering and what you see. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2004, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/64 "2004-08-09T21:03:38Z")
> [@sevastopol](#): > > Actually you stated - most Arabs in the region - . Now I see references to Egypt, Jordan and Syria in your link. But no mention of Lebanon, or 2 other largish patches of earth nearby: Iraq and Saudi Arabia. And that’s without contemplating Turkey and Iran, not to mention the host of local tiddlers. So, let’s see, they decisively defeated three out of four neighboring countries. The fourth didn’t attack them, so they didn’t attack it. If the “region” in question is defined as “those countries bordering Israel”, they did beat most of them (96% using the figures below). The oldest population figures I can find are from 1991. Neither Turkey nor Iran is considered Arab, so let’s leave them out of it. By 1991 figures, Isreal (pop 5.9 M) defeated countries with a combined population of 91.5 M. If you only consider the four neighboring countries, plus Iraq and Saudia Arabia, that’s 65%. If you restrict it to ME Arab countries (as defined by the CIA World Fact Book, but I’ll give you Egypt even though they say it’s an African nation), then they fought 55% of the ME Arab population. Only if you include all Arab countries including all those outside the ME, is it less than half (31%). ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/65 "2004-08-10T02:15:53Z")
> [@Boy Scout11](#): > > Did you know that we give 14,000 worth of free aid to each household in Israel, every year? Wrong. The combined military and economic aid given to Israel each year is about $3 billion. There are 6 million people living in Israel. Please do the math. Unless the average Israeli household includes 28 people, then we don’t give them nearly that much. Strike 1. > [@](#): > > Did any of you hear ex president Jimmy Carters speach, at the convention, where he said that Israel makes Middle East policy for the US? > > I’m curious, why didn’t our media pick up on these things and ask the difficult questions. Maybe because he said no such thing. Here is what he said: "In the meantime, the Middle East peace process has come to a screeching halt. For the first time since Israel became a nation, all former presidents, Democratic and Republican, have attempted to secure a comprehensive peace for Israel with hope and justice for the Palestinians. The achievements of Camp David a quarter century ago and the more recent progress made by President Bill Clinton are now in peril. Instead, violence has gripped the Holy Land, with the region increasingly swept by anti-American passions. This must change." Please describe the perverse mental gymnastics needed to come to the conclusion you did about this speech. They should be a fascinating read. Strike 2. > [@](#): > > Furthermore, If we look at outsourcing, I would ask that you look to the past and how jobs are created. From the blacksmith, modern mertallurgy came about and from the simple calculator, came the super computers of today, which will keep expanding into the next generations of computers, as will modern metallurgy and with any job, comes the new thinking and actions of tommorrow. As overseas has proven, they will infringe on copywrite protection, but it sure isn’t smart to give any jobs away to overseas. Fascinating. Yet completely irrelevent. > [@](#): > > 60% of college students in this country are from foreign nations and even at greately reduced rates of pay for foreigners in their home countries, they make a much better living wage and Bush has spent an additional 400 million on education. What good the 400 million, if 60 percent of students are foreign? Wrong, once again. According to the [National Center for Education Statistics](http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2003/section1/indicator06.asp) only 5% of our college students are permanent residents and only 2% are foreing students with a visa. But wait, maybe you mean foreign born. Hmmm…nope, nope - only 11%. Strike 3. Your credibility is shot. Back to the OP. Another reason for Israel’s population over here as opposed to the Palestinians is the PLO. According to Caleb Carr in _The Lessons of Terror_ (which I don’t have at hand) sympathy for the Palestinian cause was increasing with the American public at the beginning of the first intifada, as documented by several polls at the time. Pictures of people throwing rocks at riot police and troops appealed to our sympathies for the underdog or something. Had troops and police continued to be the target of attacks - combined with effective non-violent protest - it’s not unlikely that there would be a heckuva lot more support for the Palestinian cause here. Unfortunately, and I suppose somewhat understandably, the Palestinian leadership decided to go the route of killing civilians in bombing attacks. Once that happened, the Palestinians saw sympathy for their cause plummet in this country. ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/66 "2004-08-10T15:46:28Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > But please, **Boy Scout1** , I’d like to know what factors I’m not considering and what you see. Don’t hold your breath waiting **Captain Amazing**. We all know the answer anyway, don’t we? Hint: It starts with the letter “J.” Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2004, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741/67 "2004-08-10T15:55:07Z")
> [@zev\_steinhardt](#): > > Don’t hold your breath waiting **Captain Amazing**. We all know the answer anyway, don’t we? Of course! I understand, now. It was so simple, I missed it, but with your hint, I’ve figured it out. The media is controlled by journalists! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-u-s-government-support-israel/258741.md?page=3)