Why U.S. supports Israel

[Heer, Jeet (National Post)]

Doug's post nicely explains why elite policy-makers support Israel, but the
U.S. is a democracy, albiet a very imperect one, and there are many ordinary
Americans who go along with the government. Why? Here I think we have to
look beyond economic self-interest and bring in cultural explanations.
1) As already discussed on the list, many Christian fundamentalists support
Israel because, in their religious fantasies,  the founding of the Jewish
State is a necessary pre-condition for the return of Christ.
2) Even Christians who are not fundamentalists see the world through a
Biblical prism, so Israel is dear to there hearts simply as a place where
their religion was born.
3) Among more secular folks, whites tend to support Israel more than
non-whites. I suspect this is because Israel, like the U.S. is a settler
colony and Americans, even in this supposedly p.c. world, have very little
sympathy for the victims of a frontier society. The Palestinians are just
another group of natives to be pushed out of the way.
4) Related to the three points above is the fact that on some deep level,
many in the U.S. see their country as successor to the Bblical Israel, a
choosen nation favored by God. Reagan's rhetoric about the US being a "city
on a hill" offers clues about the emotional affinity felt between some
Americans (largely white Christian conservative ones) and Israel.


> ----------
> From: 	Doug Henwood
> 
> 
> <http://www.foreignpolicy-infocus.org/papers/usisrael.html>
> 
> [...]
> 
> There is a broad bipartisan consensus among policymakers that Israel 
> has advanced U.S. interest in the Middle East and beyond.
> [...]
>