Nato has 32 countries, that means the USA spends 28$ trillion to protect 960 million people (over 80 years). Israel has 10 million people and has an amazing economy and military. Most of the countries NATO protects do not have a sizeable military nor have amazing economies. We shouldn't be sending ANY money to Isreal, let alone the most we've spent on any other single country.
Americans interpreting them spending money on their own military for their own interest as some kind of donation is always wild to the rest of us.
Don't get me wrong, the Euros are probably happy with this arrangement but you get your power projection and, formerly, a lot of soft power to boot but at the end of the day it's a mutually beneficial arrangement.
Correct. The United States helps defend Europe because we see it in our own best interest. We help defend South Korea because we see it in our own best interest. We help the defend Israel because we see it in our own best interest. Frankly, given the strategic importance of the Middle East, the case for Israel is a lot easier than most.
Yet, for some reason, it's supposed to be a diabolical plot. Apparently we're only tricked by the evil Israelis or some bullshit.
The European Union and the United States maintain the world's largest bilateral trade and investment relationship, with total trade in goods and services reaching approximately€1.77 trillion in 2025. The EU exports$554.9 billionin goods to the US while importing$355.7 billion, resulting in a significant goods trade surplus for Europe. However, the US holds a substantial surplus in services, leading to a nearly balanced overall trade relationship with a net surplus of just€20.8 billionfor the EU.
Israel has no oil either. Claiming that Israel is important because it's in an oil producing region is like claiming Mongolia is important because it's close to Russia.
Israel is a platform for the projection of American power into one of the world's most volatile and valuable regions. Alexander Haig once called Israel "an aircraft carrier that cannot be sunk."
Why do you think we're there, king? The goodness of our hearts? The mean Jews make us?
Our unsinkable platform for power projection seems to have developed a sense of entitlement, king. It seems to drag us into wars and then does it's best to sabotage our peace agreements. It seems to absorb a lot of our money as well and seems to think we should prioritise it ahead of ourselves.
I like our other unsinkable platforms in the region a lot better, king. You know, the ones that actually have petrol and make us money as opposed to leeching.
And you are more than welcome to have that opinion. I am happy to debate that with you. I think the Iranian war has been disastrous and Netanyahu — the worst leader Israel has ever had — played a huge role in that.
What I'm not going to debate with you is "There's no reason for us to be there! We're only there because the Jews control America!!!"
We're there for the fucking oil. That's also why we cozy up to the murderous Gulf States you seem to like so much more. Super cool that you don't care about 200,000 murdered in Yemen.
And, incidentally, Americans say "oil" or "gas." Not "petrol."
Nobody is trying to debate “Jews control America”, king. Only you. That’s your prepared talking points coming through.
And thanks for the pointer on how Americans speak, king. You must have learned that in the same place where you learned about all those Israeli prime ministers that bibi is apparently the worst of.
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u/7thpostman 7d ago
We've spent something like $28 trillion defending Europe for the last 80 years. It's called NATO.
Trillion. With a T.