# will Israel be USA's Nemesis ? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 11, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026 "2002-09-11T21:37:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Havel.2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Havel.2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havel.2002)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/1 "2002-09-11T21:37:46Z")
I’m thinking about the close ties between them and the influence that Israel and the jews have with USA. I’m talking about money support, political support, weapons and Nukes. _(and perhaps religious support)_ The Israeli/jewish lobby AIPAC seams to be very strong in USA and their power seams to have grown the last decade. I have a feeling that Israel are going to give USA more trouble in close future than it is able to handle. This close ties are also creating more and more problems for the relations between USA and Western-Europe. Is it possible that Israel, with it’s influence in the US, will drag America into disaster in near future ? If so, will USA turn against Israel ? ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/2 "2002-09-11T21:57:20Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m talking about money support, political support, weapons and Nukes. (and perhaps religious support) Nukes. I don’t remember the US ever giving nukes to anyone including Israel. Please cite. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/3 "2002-09-11T22:44:32Z")
I still don’t undertand this attitude that Israel is a microsecond away from pushing the button and a sneeze in their direction invites a panicked nuclear response. If for no other reason, the Americans like Israel because it’s the only functioning democracy in the Middle East (along with Turkey, arguably), and thus more stable and reliable than any of its neighbors. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/4 "2002-09-11T22:58:02Z")
It’s grand that **Havel.2002** (that’s quite the apocalyptic username you’ve got there, by the way), on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, can give us the unique perspective that AIPAC and “the jews” are the key threat facing America. One thing you may not have considered, is that if the U.S. follows your wishes and abandons Israel, all those Jews living there might have to emigrate. And some of them could wind up living in _your_ neighborhood. Scary thought, huh? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Havel.2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Havel.2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havel.2002)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/5 "2002-09-11T22:58:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bryan Ekers \* > \*\*I still don’t undertand this attitude that Israel is a microsecond away from pushing the button and a sneeze in their direction invites a panicked nuclear response. > > If for no other reason, the Americans like Israel because it’s the only functioning democracy in the Middle East (along with Turkey, arguably), and thus more stable and reliable than any of its neighbors. \*\* really!!! is that the cause ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/6 "2002-09-11T23:12:35Z")
really!!! yes it is ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2002, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/7 "2002-09-11T23:47:07Z")
The perception that Americans support Israel because of paid lobbyists’ activities, reflects more of a paranoid cartoon vision than it does reality. Popular support of Israel has continued to be strong in the U.S. A Chicago Sun-Times/American Enterprise Institute poll taken after the 9/11 attacks, for example, found the following: “…the national poll found almost 62% of Americans agreed now that terrorists have hit America, pressing Israel to surrender territory and divide Jerusalem would only incite more attacks by rewarding those who support terrorism. Only 9.7% said they thought pressure on Israel would end terrorism and 28.8% had no opinion. Continued strong U.S. support for Israel drew support from 72.9% of those questioned. Significantly, 62.8% said they thought the terrorist attacks on the U.S. would have occurred regardless of American support of Israel.” And there’s no evidence any of those people polled were getting money from AIPAC. Even CNN, not known for a strident pro-Israel slant, acknowledges that [American support for Israel has remained strong](http://www.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/meast/04/16/me101.schneider) for reasons other than politics and money. Thinking beyond conspiracy theories is a prerequisite for understanding the world around you. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/8 "2002-09-12T00:36:52Z")
> [@](#): > > This close ties are also creating more and more problems for the relations between USA and Western-Europe. Which government are we having trouble with over this? Which Western European government, I mean? Oh, I suppose we _have_ lost some fans among the neo-fascists, a few random immigrants from the more _primitive_ parts of the world, and some unapologetic ex-communists from Eastern Europe. But then, we never had many friends in that set anyway. Which government are we having trouble with over this? Cite, please? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/9 "2002-09-12T03:00:12Z")
Oh, horrors! You mean the anti-semites might not like us? I was hoping to have them over for tea. If ‘Europe’ has a problem with the fact that I personally support a small democratic country in a sea of dictatorships, with a population of people who are mostly honestly trying to do the right thing, then ‘Europe’ can kiss my ass. Mistakes were made in the way Israel was created. Or at least, a no-win situation was created. But remember why that country was created in the first place: Because the Jews were being slaughtered by Europeans and others, and needed their own homeland. It was an honorable goal. And the state of Israel has remained free and Democratic in spite of being attacked both by countries and terrorists almost constantly for over 50 years. That it has remained this free and decent is a testimony to the essential goodness of the Israeli people. I hope the U.S. could live up to that standard after 50 years of a continual war on terror. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/10 "2002-09-12T03:48:42Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m talking about money support, political support, weapons and Nukes. You might want to read up on the [history of the Israeli nuclear weapons program](http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/israel/nuke/index.html). Israel actually received crucial assistance (in the form of a nuclear reactor and fuel) from France, not the United States. The [Iraqi Osirak reactor bombed by the Israelis in 1981](http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iraq/facility/osiraq.htm) was also French-built. So I don’t think Western Europeans are in any position to cast stones at the U.S. over the proliferation of nuclear weapons in the Middle East. ---
**Author:** ![Havel.2002](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/6bbea6/32.png) [@Havel.2002](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Havel.2002)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2002, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/11 "2002-09-12T19:52:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Sam Stone \* > \*\*Mistakes were made in the way Israel was created. Or at least, a no-win situation was created. But remember why that country was created in the first place: Because the Jews were being slaughtered by Europeans and others, and needed their own homeland. It was an honorable goal. . \*\* The people who already lived there had nothing to do with the slaughter ---
**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:** [September 12, 2002, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-israel-be-usas-nemesis/128026/12 "2002-09-12T21:15:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Havel.2002 \* > \*\* > > The people who already lived there had nothing to do with the slaughter \*\* Yeah, but they weren’t European, so nobody particularly cared much.