It’s Time to Rethink the U.S.-Israel ‘Special Relationship’

As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces a joint session of Congress, Washington must finally face reality: its emphatic embrace of Israel’s war in Gaza is not advancing U.S. interests or promoting regional stability—to say nothing of the immense human toll.

In fact, it is doing the opposite. So long as Washington refuses to change course, the U.S. will continue to confront major problems that are the product of its own policies. 

Netanyahu remains wedded to the idea that Israel’s army can achieve his goal of eradicating Hamas in Gaza. But as IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari recently admitted, “anyone who thinks we can eliminate Hamas is wrong.” In the military realm, the group maintains operational capacity, and continues to fight in areas of Gaza where Israel previously claimed Hamas had been eliminated. U.S. intelligence estimates that only 30-35% of Hamas’ military wing have been killed since Oct. 7, while claiming it has recruited thousands of new volunteers over the course of the war. Hamas also remains deeply embedded in the political fabric of Gaza.

Israel can degrade Hamas’ capabilities and kill their leaders, but without a route toward a credible political solution, Palestinian militancy will persist. Unfortunately, there is no sign of such a solution. Netanyahu’s apparent plan moving forward is the indefinite military occupation of the enclave, and Israel’s parliament recently passed a motion—with overwhelming support—rejecting Palestinian statehood, even if it is part of a negotiated settlement with Israel. This is a recipe for endless violence.

Meanwhile, the carnage Washington is subsidizing in Gaza is seriously damaging America’s global standing. As many feared in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the war has gone well beyond prevention and self-defense, drawing analogies to the U.S. response to 9/11. Israel’s campaign is also planting the seeds of future turmoil by killing thousands of innocent civilians, crippling Gaza’s infrastructure, and producing a famine. The effects of this war will plague Gaza for generations, and Washington’s involvement, most critically the provision of the weapons responsible for much of the killing, makes a mockery of the U.S.’ claim to lead a “liberal” or “rules-based” international order.

Finally, there is a growing chance of regional escalation and deeper direct U.S. involvement. The war has already set off a wave of regional escalation from Lebanon to Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and between Israel and Iran directly.

Israel and Hezbollah are especially close to a devastating war. The U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, C.Q. Brown, recently warned both that Iran would likely provide considerable help to Hezbollah, which has a huge arsenal of missiles that can penetrate deep into Israel, and that U.S. forces in the region could be pulled into that conflict. Such a war is anathema to U.S. interests and Middle East stability. The risks of regional war—and direct U.S. involvement—will remain elevated as long as Israel’s campaign in Gaza continues.

Read More: The Coming Israel-Hezbollah War 

Short of direct military intervention, the U.S. has cast the full weight of its political, economic, and military might behind Israel. By casting multiple vetoes at the U.N. Security Council, approving more than 100 arms transfers worth over $41 billion, passing roughly $15 billion in additional military aid, and overseeing a massive U.S. military buildup in the Middle East, the Biden Administration has placed the U.S. at the center of Israel’s war in Gaza. 

American foreign policy in the Middle East has been dysfunctional for decades, and the imbalanced relationship between the U.S. and Israel is at the core of that flawed regional strategy. Washington’s reflexive embrace of Israel has impaired its ability to think clearly about the Middle East—a region of limited strategic importance to the U.S., given America’s energy independence. At a time when the U.S. finds itself overextended abroad and facing serious political and economic troubles at home, Washington is following Israel deeper into the abyss.

Is there any sliver of hope? After Biden dropped out of the presidential race, Kamala Harris is now the Democratic frontrunner, and has an opportunity to change course on Israel and Gaza. Although Harris has urged Israel to do more to address the “immense scale of suffering” in Gaza, she has remained steadfast in her backing of Israel—much like Biden. Rhetoric devoid of a policy change is not enough. Moreover, a Trump victory would likely offer no respite given his strong support for Tel Aviv and comments that he would let Israel “finish the job” in Gaza.

Though the future of the White House is uncertain, it should be abundantly clear to all that by continuing to subsidize Israel’s war in Gaza, the U.S. is setting up itself—and the Middle East—for disaster. Washington needs to end its bipartisan, blank-check support for Israel and extricate itself from this tragedy.