In an interview with The Washington Post on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump implied that Washington’s Middle East policy is at least partially driven by Israeli interests.
“We have reached a point where we don’t have to stay in the Middle East. One reason to stay is Israel.”
The comment was a clear dog whistle to those who claim pro-Israel Jewish lobbyists and their allies hold disproportionate influence over American foreign policy.
According to these claims, Washington’s policies in the Middle East favor Israeli interests over American interests. One example often cited is the billions of dollars in US military aid to Israel each year.
But upon closer examination it becomes clear that the aid, which stunts Israel’s economic growth and erodes Jerusalem’s political independence, is actually an American government subsidy to the US arms industry.
This “special relationship” is not unique to Israel. The US government pours money into the American military industrial complex through several Middle Eastern states who, like Israel, are made increasingly dependent and subordinate to Washington’s regional agenda.
Although prominent American Jewish groups often celebrate the aid as part of a wishful fantasy that Washington and Jerusalem enjoying some unique partnership based on shared values, this fantasy mostly serves to dispel “duel loyalty” questions and enable Jews a sense of comfort and security in the US.
The notion that American military personnel are stationed in the Middle East to protect the State of Israel is equally ridiculous, especially in light of the fact that US forces have never once intervened in any war involving Israel. It does, however, provide fodder for anti-Semitic and anti-Israel conspiracy theorists.
Trump, who must have understood the implications of his statement, made it as he mulled the possibility of scaling down America’s military presence in the region.
In what could easily be interpreted as a candid acknowledgement for how oil interests have influenced Washington’s imperialist wars in the Middle East, Trump said that lower oil prices could be enable the withdrawal of US troops.
“Oil is becoming less and less of a reason because we’re producing more oil now than we’ve ever produced,” he said.
