"Despite these polls and the passions raised by the war with Hamas, it is easy to exaggerate the power of Gaza as a motivating issue for voters eight months from no-win November. History suggests that foreign policy issues end up as a minor motif in presidential politics unless American soldiers are dying in combat as they were in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2004.”

  • paddirn@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I think the balance of power has shifted a bit between the US and Israel, such that many people are overestimating how much sway the US has over Israel. Since about the 90’s, Israel had set about trying to reduce their own dependence on the US for its military needs, specifically because they didn’t want to be beholden to our demands and they didn’t see us as a reliable partner. While the GOP mostly gives them the greenlight on anything (at least since after Bush I’s term), the Democrats have the gall to want a more balanced approach to the peace process, to actually consider Palestinians. Everyone still has this idea that Israel is completely dependent on the US for everything, but that’s just not the case anymore. Pre-Oct 7, they’d made peace with neighbors, it’s relatively cheap for them to maintain the Iron Dome system (that we did most of the setup for, but it’s drastically cut down on the effect of rocket attacks), and the amount of aid that the US provides is a smaller % of their GDP. It’s just a different world now.

    I think if we were to push the subject of them ending their offensive, they’d say, “Fuck off,” and go to China or maybe Russia for whatever weapon needs they still have, someone who won’t give them any shit about genocide. I think we should still do it anyways, because we can’t be an impartial broker of peace as long as we’re supplying weapons to one side of the conflict. I think Biden/Democrats are trying to walk a fine line here, they probably honestly want the Gaza war to end, but there’s a fear of pissing off weapons companies and AIPAC, it would hurt them bad in elections. It’s still the right thing to do, but I’m guessing that’s part of the calculus.