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“The U.S. must decide which side of history it wishes to be on – for the sake of Gaza, for the sake of Israel, and most importantly, for the sake of humanity, and for the sake of its own soul."  Adriel Kasonta, a British foreign policy consultant and conservative commentator.  

Our government has chosen the wrong side of history in supporting Israel's genocidal ethnic cleaning of Gaza. In failing to use its significant influence with Israel to demand an immediate,  permanent end to the killing, the Biden administration will lose much more than its “soul.”  

By losing sight of what our real national interests are in the Middle East, Biden is losing the support of many Americans and the respect of the international community. His diplomatic, financial and military support for Israel is a mistake and will not be worth the financial, political, domestic and international costs to our country.   When Iran recently attacked Israel with missiles and drones, Biden pledged full U.S. support to defend Israel. Israel and Iran have been engaged in low-level conflict for decades. The latest incident began when Israel bombed the Iranian embassy in Damascus on April 1, 2024. Iran responded on April 13 with a drone and missile attack on Israel. U.S. military forces in the region helped defend Israel and shot down many of the Iranian drones and missiles.   Despite being heavily involved in a war in Ukraine and in supplying Israel's war on Palestinians in Gaza, our country immediately jumped into the military confrontation between Israel and Iran. This conflict could easily escalate into a broader war with Russia and the United States.   Is defending Israel worth the risk of a war (hot or cold) with Russia? Are we blind to what is really important for our people and for the people of the world?   Mahatma Gandhi, the great advocate for non-violent conflict resolution, once said, “An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind.” This statement succinctly describes the cycles of violence and revenge between Palestinians and Zionists.   Today our government's actions are only exacerbating the problems. For many reasons, these actions are not in the best interests of our country or anyone else.   There is little economic or demographic evidence that Israel is important to our nation or most Americans. Israel is a small country about the size of New Jersey. Its population is only 9.8 million people and 21% of those people are Arabs and another 5.7% are other non-Jewish people.   Only 2.4% of the U.S. population is Jewish. Two thirds of U.S. Jews are of European heritage. Immigration between Israel and the U.S. (both directions) is small and suggests there are few family connections between the two countries.  

Despite these demographic facts, politicians from both parties are afraid of losing the Jewish vote. This makes no sense given that half of the small number of Jewish voters are opposed to Biden's policies. But the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is a pro-Israel lobbying organization with lots of money and significant political influence. This is a classic example of how money corrupts our elections and harms the country.  

In 2022, exports to Israel were only 0.7% of total U.S. exports. Imports were also only 0.7% of the U.S. total. Much of this trade is in military products. For decades Israel has been the largest recipient of U.S military aid ($3 billion a year). The U.S. is Israel's biggest source of military equipment and weapons. Between 2019 and 2023, the U.S supplied 69% of Israeli military imports.   The details of our trade with Israel suggest Israel is not important to the U.S. economy. But it is important to the economic interests of a few high-tech companies, Wall Street financial firms and the military industrial complex profiteers.  

Support for Israel does not enhance our national security. In fact, our support has only created problems and threatened our safety. Our support for Israel led to the 1973 Arab Oil Embargo. Multiple times during the Cold War U.S. and Russian nuclear forces went on alert in response to Arab/Israeli wars. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were, in part, a result of U.S. support for Israel.  

Today support for Israel's war on Palestinians makes the U.S. less respected and more likely to be a target of terrorists. International polls say the U.S. is considered the greatest threat to world peace. Worldwide protests against our support for Israel show our “leadership” of the world is unpopular.  

Former President Jimmy Carter has written, “The United States is squandering international prestige and goodwill and intensifying global anti-American terrorism by unofficially condoning or abetting the Israeli confiscation and colonization of Palestinian territories.”  

Biden's support for Israel's war on the Palestinians is creating huge divisions at home. We are seeing a repeat of the anti-war protests of the 1960s. A November 2023 poll found only 32 percent of respondents advocated unqualified backing of Israel. Sixty eight percent wanted a ceasefire. A February 2024 poll showed a majority of Americans of all religious persuasions support an end to the violence (Muslims 75%, Catholics 71%, Protestants 60% and Jews 50%). Even a majority (58%) of white evangelicals (traditionally staunch supporters of Israel) now want a de-escalation of the conflict.   But the response to today's protesters by government and university officials is to repeat the mistakes and undemocratic practices of the past. Protesters are being maligned as unpatriotic, violent or antisemitic. Students and protesters of all ages are being arrested and punished for the crime of standing up for peace and justice for Palestinians.  

In the past the protesters were right about Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. They will be proven right about today's war in Palestine.  

The most consequential impact of Biden's senseless support for Israel is that it may cost him the election. This election may be very close and be decided by tiny percentages in a few states. Inevitably there will be people who will not vote for Biden because of his support of Israel. These protest votes may elect Trump.  

Is Israel worth inflicting another Trump administration on the country? Is support for Israel worth gambling on the future of American democracy? Clearly unqualified support for Israel is not good for America. Why do we ignore this obvious reality?