USA and Israel

[EJV]

Why US is so supportive to Israel??

[BadlyHungBoy]

Check the US Electoral Register: or whatever they call it.

[Sylday]

I think BadlyHungBoy is implying that US support for Israel is due to jewish voting power in the country. In fact, there are only about 5 million jews in America, out of a total population of some 300 million, about 1.7%, so they're hardly likely to be able to influence elections and/or party policy by themselves.

I'm not sure there is a simple answer to your question. But possibly one reason goes back to the Cold War period. At that time the Arab world tended to be within the USSR's sphere of influence; so Israel - which in any case was in conflict with the Arabs - naturally became an ally of the US.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Basically, over decades the US has armed Israel, and allowed it to develop nuclear weapons (the same ones no one else is allowed to have because er... only we're responsible enough or something) and used it to ensure that US policies in the middle east are adhered to. Whilst Israel is far from all powerful, it has significantly contributed to keeping the oil flowing where the US wants it to, and additonally also acts as control against perceived bad islamic states such as Iran. It's way way more complicated than that however, and would take a very long time to go through it all.

[Quizmonster]

As Sylday says above, it has little to do with the supposed power of the American-Jewish lobby/electorate. The far more important religious element is the fact that fundamentalist Christians - with which the USA is 'heaving' - believe that the Second Coming of Christ can come about only if the Jews are in possession of their so-called 'promised land'. Their votes are the ones that count.

[beale]

So let's hear it for the US Christian Right! Keep fightin' the good fight boys, Jesus loves ya!!