In a tense game of chicken, remarkable for its mix of petulance and audacity, congressional Republicans are threatening to halt U.S. aid to Ukraineāguaranteeing a Russian breakthrough and possible victory in that warāunless Democrats help pass a bill that all but locks down Americaās Southern border.
If the impasse isnāt resolved by the end of next week, when Congress goes on recess until the new year, the Ukrainian army could run out of ammunition. President Joe Biden could resupply the arsenal from U.S. stockpiles without legislative approval, but the move would be temporary, and the signal sentāthat Ukraine, and by implication other allies, can no longer count on U.S. support in a pinchācould be a holiday cork-popper for Russian President Vladimir Putin and all of our other adversaries.
I think thatās part of it, but I the government is also using Israel as a proxy, and we do have silicon manufacturing there. The government has a vested military and security interest in Israel (money and power is far more important, the votes are a bonus).
Unlike all of the other countries in the Middle East, Israel is surrounded only by enemies. Israel canāt turn on the US without a replacement military superpower, so theyāre effectively bound to the US for guaranteed protection.
Example: Despite Iranās posturing they werenāt going to attack knowing theyād get a military response from the US if they did. They almost certainly could get away with attacking a different country the US isnāt protecting though without anything more than sanctions.
The US can support Israelās right to exist along with the Palestinians too and could pressure Israel to have a more reserved response that didnāt kill so many Palestinian civilians. And in fact itās clear many in the administration want this. However as there are definitely ardent Israel supporters that have no empathy for the civilians plight and that have deep pockets and long memories, it appears Biden is very reluctant to offend them right before an election.
None of this is mutually exclusive with what I said and you got really close to my pointā¦
I keep seeing everyone talking about only a few groups:
Iām not seeing anyone mention the group of people who do not care about Israel as a people either and only want to protect their money and power and view Israel as a tool to do so.
That last group is currently escaping the headlines which are essentially all about people who are vocally pro-/anti-Israel or pro-/anti-Palestinians and not about the group who care about neither. The last group needs more attention because they will be funding the next war too.