Israel under Siege

This is probably why I don't think about that area so much anymore. Starts to seem pointless/

Quote: rxwine

Actually, the situation reminds me of one of the old COPS episode. Police have gone over to the same house 3 times in the same week. The two brothers, the father, or mother, are beating up on each other again.

The police settle things down. Maybe run one or more into jail for the night. A few days later.

Same thing. And the USA represents the cops.

The USA is more like the battered wife.

Quote: Tanko

"After Years of Quiet, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Exploded. Why Now?" -NYT

"Twenty-seven days before the first rocket was fired from Gaza this week, a squad of Israeli police officers entered the Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, brushed the Palestinian attendants aside and strode across its vast limestone courtyard. Then they cut the cables to the loudspeakers that broadcast prayers to the faithful from four medieval minarets."

Knowing the NYT I wonder if it was "prayers" that were being broadcast or was it calls to violence against Jews? Or just harassment of Jews in the neighborhood. Anything like that.

Quote: Gandler

..... But, I find it hard to believe NYT would credit Trump for peace in the region (even if he loves to say it).

Why not? Trump did more to advance peace in the middle east, than any president in the past 70 years.

Same NYT article on Yahoo.

Article about “America’s Newspaper of Record”.

Quote: Gandler

Israel has a right to defend itself.

Now, you're sounding like a Republican.

Two days ago, Democrats encouraged Hamas and its supporters, when they blocked the Republican sponsored 'Palestinian International Terrorism Support Prevention Act', which would have imposed sanctions on on foreign entities known to provide financial assistance to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas.

I decided to go ahead and read on this for about three solid hours last night, so I'm still not qualified to offer an opinion, but I will anyway:

From What I Gather

1.) The cutting of the lines for the broadcast of prayer that Tanko talked about. I guess, on the Israel side, they were trying to give a speech underneath that area and did not want the speech to be drowned out by prayer.

2.) Apparently, there is a neighborhood called Sheikh Jarrah that Israel is currently working on clearing out as the result of a legal battle that has lasted decades. I would assume that this was not decided in favor of the residents.

Anyway, I guess the plan is to displace all of those people and also destroy some other Palestinian buildings.

3.) In recent weeks, the Israeli police have not been terribly kind to Muslim Palestinians basically just trying to block them from going place to place and then going after them with rubber bullets and stun grenades against worshippers at a place called Al-Aqsa. I've also read that they were going after protestors there, so perhaps they were protesting at the place of worship.

4.) Militaristically speaking, Hamas (Palestinian group that the U.S. classifies as a terrorist group) indiscriminately fired a bunch of rockets from Gaza. There is nobody who disputes this.

5.) Israel has superior military strength and, even though the rockets are being fired indiscriminately, Israel can destroy most of them by way of the "Iron Dome."

6.) While Israel has counterattacked buildings and some civilians have been killed/injured in Gaza, many assert the right of Israel to defend itself against the rocket attacks. Israel has countered mainly with air strikes due to the fact that:

A.) They do not want a ground war at this time because they are trying to keep total human losses in check.

B.) There's not a whole hell of a lot that Palestine can do to stop them.

7.) Israel has been cautious in selecting their targets trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. Nobody denies this, except for those who suggest that they should not be attacking at all. Most Gaza civilian casualties are unavoidable due to the dense population, though many buildings and structures have been destroyed.

8.) There are allegations that Israel has targeted media outlets (and even one reporter has died). One such media outlet was a building shared by multiple outlets, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The allegation is that Israel wants to silence pro-Palestinian reporting.

9.) It has been alleged that pro-Palestinian reporting has been silenced on social media, but most such cases saw the person's account unlocked with the social media companies claiming this was done by mistake.

10.) Black Lives Matter (at least some of them) as well as many on the Far Left side with the Palestinians due to the fact that they see everything going on over there with the displacements as an, "Apartheid," an, "Ethnic Cleansing," and they have said this all stems from white supremacy...because of course it does.

11.) That notwithstanding, even some Jewish groups support living in the two-state or one-state system, they don't care, they just want the fighting to stop and those Palestinians who are actually citizens of Israel to be treated equally. Jewish Voice for Peace is such a group.

12.) Many on the Far Left see Israel as having, "Power," and that they have superior military force is certainly not in dispute (that the U.S. is largely funding), so it is for that reason that many of them would naturally be against this. They really just don't like the notion of anyone having, "Power," over anyone else...unless it's them through wokeness and cancel culture having power over the actions/words of all of society.

13.) Many of those who claim to take a firm side on this are doing so only on partial information and do not fully understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation. I also do not understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation, because I don't have that kind of time, but the difference with me is I will admit it.

14.) There are hints that everyone except the leaders (on both sides) are just puppets and that the leaders are trying to hold onto their power.

Positions

1.) They are over there and we are over here. This is not any of our business and we should not be militarily funding a war that is not ours for any reason.

2.) It seems that Israel has the superior military strength in this situation, some allege, mostly due to our funding. My position is not that we should stop militaristically funding Israel specifically, to be clear, it's that we shouldn't fund anyone unless we are engaged in a war (and are funding one of our allies) because we have been attacked.

3.) Religion is stupid. Game, set, match.

***That's the best I could do with only a few hours to devote to this. I read no fewer than thirty articles across the entire political spectrum and from different countries. I lack sufficient information to declare one side as right and one as wrong---I'm sure both sides have their own perspectives on the situation and points to make. Religion remains pointless and stupid, at best, and controlling and destructive, at worst.

Quote: Mission146

I decided to go ahead and read on this for about three solid hours last night, so I'm still not qualified to offer an opinion, but I will anyway:

From What I Gather

1.) The cutting of the lines for the broadcast of prayer that Tanko talked about. I guess, on the Israel side, they were trying to give a speech underneath that area and did not want the speech to be drowned out by prayer.

2.) Apparently, there is a neighborhood called Sheikh Jarrah that Israel is currently working on clearing out as the result of a legal battle that has lasted decades. I would assume that this was not decided in favor of the residents.

Anyway, I guess the plan is to displace all of those people and also destroy some other Palestinian buildings.

3.) In recent weeks, the Israeli police have not been terribly kind to Muslim Palestinians basically just trying to block them from going place to place and then going after them with rubber bullets and stun grenades against worshippers at a place called Al-Aqsa. I've also read that they were going after protestors there, so perhaps they were protesting at the place of worship.

4.) Militaristically speaking, Hamas (Palestinian group that the U.S. classifies as a terrorist group) indiscriminately fired a bunch of rockets from Gaza. There is nobody who disputes this.

5.) Israel has superior military strength and, even though the rockets are being fired indiscriminately, Israel can destroy most of them by way of the "Iron Dome."

6.) While Israel has counterattacked buildings and some civilians have been killed/injured in Gaza, many assert the right of Israel to defend itself against the rocket attacks. Israel has countered mainly with air strikes due to the fact that:

A.) They do not want a ground war at this time because they are trying to keep total human losses in check.

B.) There's not a whole hell of a lot that Palestine can do to stop them.

7.) Israel has been cautious in selecting their targets trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. Nobody denies this, except for those who suggest that they should not be attacking at all. Most Gaza civilian casualties are unavoidable due to the dense population, though many buildings and structures have been destroyed.

8.) There are allegations that Israel has targeted media outlets (and even one reporter has died). One such media outlet was a building shared by multiple outlets, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The allegation is that Israel wants to silence pro-Palestinian reporting.

9.) It has been alleged that pro-Palestinian reporting has been silenced on social media, but most such cases saw the person's account unlocked with the social media companies claiming this was done by mistake.

10.) Black Lives Matter (at least some of them) as well as many on the Far Left side with the Palestinians due to the fact that they see everything going on over there with the displacements as an, "Apartheid," an, "Ethnic Cleansing," and they have said this all stems from white supremacy...because of course it does.

11.) That notwithstanding, even some Jewish groups support living in the two-state or one-state system, they don't care, they just want the fighting to stop and those Palestinians who are actually citizens of Israel to be treated equally. Jewish Voice for Peace is such a group.

12.) Many on the Far Left see Israel as having, "Power," and that they have superior military force is certainly not in dispute (that the U.S. is largely funding), so it is for that reason that many of them would naturally be against this. They really just don't like the notion of anyone having, "Power," over anyone else...unless it's them through wokeness and cancel culture having power over the actions/words of all of society.

13.) Many of those who claim to take a firm side on this are doing so only on partial information and do not fully understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation. I also do not understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation, because I don't have that kind of time, but the difference with me is I will admit it.

14.) There are hints that everyone except the leaders (on both sides) are just puppets and that the leaders are trying to hold onto their power.

Positions

1.) They are over there and we are over here. This is not any of our business and we should not be militarily funding a war that is not ours for any reason.

2.) It seems that Israel has the superior military strength in this situation, some allege, mostly due to our funding. My position is not that we should stop militaristically funding Israel specifically, to be clear, it's that we shouldn't fund anyone unless we are engaged in a war (and are funding one of our allies) because we have been attacked.

3.) Religion is stupid. Game, set, match.

***That's the best I could do with only a few hours to devote to this. I read no fewer than thirty articles across the entire political spectrum and from different countries. I lack sufficient information to declare one side as right and one as wrong---I'm sure both sides have their own perspectives on the situation and points to make. Religion remains pointless and stupid, at best, and controlling and destructive, at worst.

I can give a more detailed answer to some of your points later, but I just want to point out since you brought it up several times that America "funds" the Israeli Military. This is not true. We give them about 4 billion every year, and this money must be spent on U.S. manufactured goods.... So we basically give them 4 billion which then gets sent to U.S. manufacturers.... Also, this is not just for military, this 4 billion can be used for any U.S. good (health products, tech etc....)

Israel had a strong military before we were allies. In the 40s they were invaded by all of their neighbors and pushed them back with no help from any other country (arguably with hindrance from other countries). Israel has mandatory military service for males and females (this kind of gender equality is very rare, even in Europe), so their military is very strong because they have a huge pool of people in the Reserves for many years, and don't have to pay very much. During conscription, even during your two years of active duty, you make very little (it comes out to a couple hundred U.S. dollars a month), so Israel saves a lot on salaries and can focus money on equipment.

People overstating how much money we give to Isreal is common, but its not reality (and it's really just giving money to U.S. factories indirectly.....)

Quote: Gandler

I can give a more detailed answer to some of your points later, but I just want to point out since you brought it up several times that America "funds" the Israeli Military. This is not true. We give them about 4 billion every year, and this money must be spent on U.S. manufactured goods.... So we basically give them 4 billion which then gets sent to U.S. manufacturers.... Also, this is not just for military, this 4 billion can be used for any U.S. good (health products, tech etc....)

The United States currently operates at a deficit and has significant national debt. We should not provide foreign aid to any country, for any reason, until this problem is rectified. We can spend our own money on our own U.S. manufactured goods for ourselves if you consider this a beneficial thing to do.

Furthermore, since you are the one bringing up the point, I would like you to provide me with the spending breakdown, if you so desire.

Or, I can do it:

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf

Oh, they purchase their fighter jets from us (Page 14) and the military aircraft needed to refuel said fighter jets (Page 15)...excellent.

See Page 16 for a breakdown including air-air missiles, munitions, naval guns and armored personal carrier power packs.

Semantics. It's military aid. They are buying our weapons from us with our own money.

Quote:

Israel had a strong military before we were allies. In the 40s they were invaded by all of their neighbors and pushed them back with no help from any other country (arguably with hindrance from other countries). Israel has mandatory military service for males and females (this kind of gender equality is very rare, even in Europe), so their military is very strong because they have a huge pool of people in the Reserves for many years, and don't have to pay very much. During conscription, even during your two years of active duty, you make very little (it comes out to a couple hundred U.S. dollars a month), so Israel saves a lot on salaries and can focus money on equipment.

People overstating how much money we give to Isreal is common, but its not reality (and it's really just giving money to U.S. factories indirectly.....)

Good, then Israel should continue to have a strong military without our financial support. The financial support terminated, what happens over there is none of our business.

As we can see, our concern with the conflict over there is causing civil unrest and discord within our own borders. That is because religion is stupid.

Quote: Mission146

The United States currently operates at a deficit and has significant national debt. We should not provide foreign aid to any country, for any reason, until this problem is rectified. We can spend our own money on our own U.S. manufactured goods for ourselves if you consider this a beneficial thing to do.

Furthermore, since you are the one bringing up the point, I would like you to provide me with the spending breakdown, if you so desire.

Or, I can do it:

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL33222.pdf

Oh, they purchase their fighter jets from us (Page 14) and the military aircraft needed to refuel said fighter jets (Page 15)...excellent.

See Page 16 for a breakdown including air-air missiles, munitions, naval guns and armored personal carrier power packs.

Semantics. It's military aid. They are buying our weapons from us with our own money.



Good, then Israel should continue to have a strong military without our financial support. The financial support terminated, what happens over there is none of our business.

As we can see, our concern with the conflict over there is causing civil unrest and discord within our own borders. That is because religion is stupid.

So my estimation was pretty accurate (4 billion), its actually only 3.8 billion a year (aid and military support combined), so its even less than I thought.

We give about 40 billion total in foreign aid (again estimation from my head, maybe slightly more or less). So 3.8 billion is a small sliver of this (yes I am aware this makes them the single biggest gainer). We have a budget that is over 4.5 trillion, this (even all foreign aid) is a very tiny amount. Even if you cut all 40 billion of all aid it would hardly dent the budget. But, this small amount of money can matter greatly to countries in need (extreme poverty).

In the case of Israel though it is basically indirect subsidies for American manufacturing, because we give them the money and they have to spend it with us.

Quote: Mission146

I decided to go ahead and read on this for about three solid hours last night, so I'm still not qualified to offer an opinion, but I will anyway:

From What I Gather

1.) The cutting of the lines for the broadcast of prayer that Tanko talked about. I guess, on the Israel side, they were trying to give a speech underneath that area and did not want the speech to be drowned out by prayer.

2.) Apparently, there is a neighborhood called Sheikh Jarrah that Israel is currently working on clearing out as the result of a legal battle that has lasted decades. I would assume that this was not decided in favor of the residents.

Anyway, I guess the plan is to displace all of those people and also destroy some other Palestinian buildings.

3.) In recent weeks, the Israeli police have not been terribly kind to Muslim Palestinians basically just trying to block them from going place to place and then going after them with rubber bullets and stun grenades against worshippers at a place called Al-Aqsa. I've also read that they were going after protestors there, so perhaps they were protesting at the place of worship.

4.) Militaristically speaking, Hamas (Palestinian group that the U.S. classifies as a terrorist group) indiscriminately fired a bunch of rockets from Gaza. There is nobody who disputes this.

5.) Israel has superior military strength and, even though the rockets are being fired indiscriminately, Israel can destroy most of them by way of the "Iron Dome."

6.) While Israel has counterattacked buildings and some civilians have been killed/injured in Gaza, many assert the right of Israel to defend itself against the rocket attacks. Israel has countered mainly with air strikes due to the fact that:

A.) They do not want a ground war at this time because they are trying to keep total human losses in check.

B.) There's not a whole hell of a lot that Palestine can do to stop them.

7.) Israel has been cautious in selecting their targets trying to avoid civilian casualties as much as possible. Nobody denies this, except for those who suggest that they should not be attacking at all. Most Gaza civilian casualties are unavoidable due to the dense population, though many buildings and structures have been destroyed.

8.) There are allegations that Israel has targeted media outlets (and even one reporter has died). One such media outlet was a building shared by multiple outlets, including the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. The allegation is that Israel wants to silence pro-Palestinian reporting.

9.) It has been alleged that pro-Palestinian reporting has been silenced on social media, but most such cases saw the person's account unlocked with the social media companies claiming this was done by mistake.

10.) Black Lives Matter (at least some of them) as well as many on the Far Left side with the Palestinians due to the fact that they see everything going on over there with the displacements as an, "Apartheid," an, "Ethnic Cleansing," and they have said this all stems from white supremacy...because of course it does.

11.) That notwithstanding, even some Jewish groups support living in the two-state or one-state system, they don't care, they just want the fighting to stop and those Palestinians who are actually citizens of Israel to be treated equally. Jewish Voice for Peace is such a group.

12.) Many on the Far Left see Israel as having, "Power," and that they have superior military force is certainly not in dispute (that the U.S. is largely funding), so it is for that reason that many of them would naturally be against this. They really just don't like the notion of anyone having, "Power," over anyone else...unless it's them through wokeness and cancel culture having power over the actions/words of all of society.

13.) Many of those who claim to take a firm side on this are doing so only on partial information and do not fully understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation. I also do not understand the history of the Israel-Palestine situation, because I don't have that kind of time, but the difference with me is I will admit it.

14.) There are hints that everyone except the leaders (on both sides) are just puppets and that the leaders are trying to hold onto their power.

Positions

1.) They are over there and we are over here. This is not any of our business and we should not be militarily funding a war that is not ours for any reason.

2.) It seems that Israel has the superior military strength in this situation, some allege, mostly due to our funding. My position is not that we should stop militaristically funding Israel specifically, to be clear, it's that we shouldn't fund anyone unless we are engaged in a war (and are funding one of our allies) because we have been attacked.

3.) Religion is stupid. Game, set, match.

***That's the best I could do with only a few hours to devote to this. I read no fewer than thirty articles across the entire political spectrum and from different countries. I lack sufficient information to declare one side as right and one as wrong---I'm sure both sides have their own perspectives on the situation and points to make. Religion remains pointless and stupid, at best, and controlling and destructive, at worst.

For your positions segment (I was going to take some of your above point by point, but I agree that it is reasonably fair, and there is not really much to be gained by breaking down every dispute) , these are fair from a libertarian perspective.

1. Yes they are over there and we are over here. However, many American Jewish People have connections to Israel. It is also a strong ally of ours, in a region where we do not have many allies. The main reason we are allies with Israel historically has nothing to do with religion (or oil), but with the Cold War (we wanted somebody dependable in the region who was also strong on their own, and would have zero ties to communism). Of course geopolitics changed dramatically since the 1950s-1960s, but the overall concept is still the same (an ally that will support us).

2. I do not agree that Israel has a strong military "mostly due to our funding". They have their own money. And, as mentioned above were quite powerful with zero foreign help even right after being founded. It may be accurate to say that us allowing them to buy many advanced technologies that we do not allow other countries to buy may help. But, the idea that Israel is a welfare state that needs America to exist is wrong (I know you did not say this directly, but its a line used by many libertarians). They have some very advanced aircraft, that we allow them to buy. Does this give them an advantage over some others? Probably.

3. I agree religion is stupid. And, I agree that a country with a State sponsored religion is stupid. But, the reality is that most of the world has a State sponsored religion. Israel just happens to be the only one that is Jewish (Christians and Muslims have endless countries). So I think when people demand that Israel give up its religion first, there are ulterior motives. Why is it so important for Israel to become secular? Why are people obsessed with this when Israel is surrounded by countries that are also religious....

I agree it would be better if the world was secular. And, the Middle East especially would probably be better. But, when people demand Israel become secular and not any of its neighbors there is only one reason. These same people are not against Palestine having a national religion..... But, when Israel does it is problematic (I think we all know why).

It seems that a ceasefire has been agreed upon to go into effect at 1900 EST today (which has passed). So far it seems as this has been followed (granted its only been two hours).

Hopefully, this will lead to peace in our time and that differences can be worked out without violence increasing again.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/20/israel-and-hamas-agree-to-cease-fire-over-gaza-conflict-reports-say.html

I give President Biden massive credit for his tireless work in this regard, not giving in to pressure to be more public. This is the kind of work that needs to happen behind the scenes and not become a media circus. So I don't give any credence to the criticisms from both the far left and the far right that he should have been more transparent. Results are what matters at the end of the day and he (President Biden) is delivering them without compromising American values or alliances.

Quote: Gandler

So my estimation was pretty accurate (4 billion), its actually only 3.8 billion a year (aid and military support combined), so its even less than I thought.

We give about 40 billion total in foreign aid (again estimation from my head, maybe slightly more or less). So 3.8 billion is a small sliver of this (yes I am aware this makes them the single biggest gainer). We have a budget that is over 4.5 trillion, this (even all foreign aid) is a very tiny amount. Even if you cut all 40 billion of all aid it would hardly dent the budget. But, this small amount of money can matter greatly to countries in need (extreme poverty).

In the case of Israel though it is basically indirect subsidies for American manufacturing, because we give them the money and they have to spend it with us.

Unfortunately, there's so much with your post that I fundamentally disagree with that I don't even know where to start.

Let's start with, "It's actually only," and, "Small sliver." We're talking about 3.8B dollars, and I don't know about you, but having $50,000 in new money in front of me would drastically change my planning for the next year.

It's bad enough that we're completely desensitized to the notion of 3.8B in Federal spending on anything, but now, we're talking about 3.8B in foreign spending in a conflict across the globe to aid them in a military matter that shouldn't be any of our concern in the first place.

The next thing we have is, "Even if you cut all 40 billion of all aid it would hardly dent the budget." That's the kind of thinking that, applied to personal finance, leads to bankruptcy. I know from personal experience. "Oh, I could not put going out to dinner on the credit card this time, but my balance is already pretty high, so I don't even think my monthly payment is going to go up much because of this."

It's forty billion dollars in Federal spending that I would like to see justified by a better RoI than, "Oh, well, they're spending our own money on American manufactured products."

If we're going to spend that money at all, which we shouldn't (deficit) then we could at least spend it on the general betterment of the country. "Oh, this spending is okay, because Israel is taking the aid and buying munitions from American weapons manufacturers." I don't know? Maybe improve the highways, airports or build a bridge? Even though the Federal Government shouldn't be involved in education, maybe increasing education spending by 3.8B nationally (that's 76 million, per state) would perhaps be a better use of the funds than much of the money going to a multi-national corporation with a market cap of 107.93B in a roundabout way.

If they want weapons that are going to be used to destroy buildings (that cost money to build) and kill people, maybe it's not too much to ask that they should go ahead and buy those weapons entirely with their own money. At least until no Interstate highway in this country has any pothole on it anywhere.

Quote:

For your positions segment (I was going to take some of your above point by point, but I agree that it is reasonably fair, and there is not really much to be gained by breaking down every dispute) , these are fair from a libertarian perspective.

1. Yes they are over there and we are over here. However, many American Jewish People have connections to Israel. It is also a strong ally of ours, in a region where we do not have many allies. The main reason we are allies with Israel historically has nothing to do with religion (or oil), but with the Cold War (we wanted somebody dependable in the region who was also strong on their own, and would have zero ties to communism). Of course geopolitics changed dramatically since the 1950s-1960s, but the overall concept is still the same (an ally that will support us).

2. I do not agree that Israel has a strong military "mostly due to our funding". They have their own money. And, as mentioned above were quite powerful with zero foreign help even right after being founded. It may be accurate to say that us allowing them to buy many advanced technologies that we do not allow other countries to buy may help. But, the idea that Israel is a welfare state that needs America to exist is wrong (I know you did not say this directly, but its a line used by many libertarians). They have some very advanced aircraft, that we allow them to buy. Does this give them an advantage over some others? Probably.

3. I agree religion is stupid. And, I agree that a country with a State sponsored religion is stupid. But, the reality is that most of the world has a State sponsored religion. Israel just happens to be the only one that is Jewish (Christians and Muslims have endless countries). So I think when people demand that Israel give up its religion first, there are ulterior motives. Why is it so important for Israel to become secular? Why are people obsessed with this when Israel is surrounded by countries that are also religious....

I agree it would be better if the world was secular. And, the Middle East especially would probably be better. But, when people demand Israel become secular and not any of its neighbors there is only one reason. These same people are not against Palestine having a national religion..... But, when Israel does it is problematic (I think we all know why).

1.) It doesn't matter what connections Jewish-Americans have to Israel. If they want to be Israelites, then they should go to Israel and live there. It's perfectly fine to have concern for your culture, family, land that you may have came from---but you're an American before you're anything.

Many Muslim-Americans have connections to Pakistan, I would assume. They should also be Americans first. If they want to be Pakistani, then they should relocate to Pakistan.

If any so situated people want to donate their own money, or if they want to go over there and give their time (or even fight), then that's perfectly fine and is up to them. If they go over and survive, then they should certainly be welcome back.

Anyway, we wouldn't need any allies over there, at this time, if only we would stay out of affairs that should not concern us. What country over there has attacked the United States or any lands rightfully possessed by the United States?

You just make it known that you are basically neutral, but that if any of the countries over there decide to attack us, we will go over there and destroy every building and kill every single person until they unconditionally surrender.

2.) Good, then they can spend their own money that they have with companies, such as Lockheed Martin, to purchase their planes and munitions. I believe that the United States of America has the right, as a country, to decide who they wish to sell munitions and military technologies to and be allies in that sense (which would still be being allied); we just shouldn't be financing them.

I'm not objecting to being allied with them necessarily and I'm not calling for us to allow our companies to sell munitions and military technologies to whoever is asking and has cash---I'm just saying that anyone we sell to should be buying with their own money unless we (The United States) are actually engaged in a war and they are fighting by our sides.

3.) I don't care if Israel becomes secular or not. No dog in the fight. They are over there and we are over here. Anyway, it's fine that you have stated your position on this, but I am not advocating for Israel to become secular. I don't care what they do. If they want to have a stupid state-sponsored religion, then that is their business.