Good analysis and jibes w what other serious analysts (HRG amongst others) are saying. Israel and the US need to have an updated conversation about what their relationship is going forward. It kind of reminds me of Kobe and Shaq. It started out as “big brother-little brother” and then evolved over the years. Maybe Israel is still the “little brother”, maybe it is the son who needs to move out of the house and live on his own. I don’t know. The conversation needs to be had. Thx for your advocacy. Am Yisroel Chai.
This has left me all the more convinced that Israel’s dependence on American aid is a weakness that Israel must overcome. True, most of the American money spent on Israel goes to domestic defense contractors who in turn sell weapons to Israel, but there is an inevitable he who pays the piper gets to call the tune element involved.
Helpful for me to read this to help balance out the commentary of so many others. Taking a deep breath as I know this leaves Israel in a very vulnerable position.
Israel moved a lot of low-margin defense production to the US after Obama's MOU phased out the amount of US military aid that could be spent in Israel. This included aerial munitions and Iron Dome's Tamir interceptors.
This was part and parcel of making Israeli defense companies more profitable.
That defense technology is Israeli and is being brought back: Elbit opened a major new plant in Israel for aerial munitions in December 2024.
But no country is self-sufficient in defense: even the US uses Israeli Spike missiles on its Apache helicopters and Israeli active defense systems to protect its M1 tanks and Bradley IFVs. There are defense items like combat aircraft that Israeli industry cannot provide.
I am confident Israel has contingency plans for USA pulling back on support, weapons supply, intelligence etc. The fact is that USA occasionally does pull back, decrease support etc due to USA domestic politics. Usually Democrat presidents posturing. I am confident that Israel gameplans for various ways USA support could go.
Good analysis and jibes w what other serious analysts (HRG amongst others) are saying. Israel and the US need to have an updated conversation about what their relationship is going forward. It kind of reminds me of Kobe and Shaq. It started out as “big brother-little brother” and then evolved over the years. Maybe Israel is still the “little brother”, maybe it is the son who needs to move out of the house and live on his own. I don’t know. The conversation needs to be had. Thx for your advocacy. Am Yisroel Chai.
This has left me all the more convinced that Israel’s dependence on American aid is a weakness that Israel must overcome. True, most of the American money spent on Israel goes to domestic defense contractors who in turn sell weapons to Israel, but there is an inevitable he who pays the piper gets to call the tune element involved.
Helpful for me to read this to help balance out the commentary of so many others. Taking a deep breath as I know this leaves Israel in a very vulnerable position.
Israel moved a lot of low-margin defense production to the US after Obama's MOU phased out the amount of US military aid that could be spent in Israel. This included aerial munitions and Iron Dome's Tamir interceptors.
This was part and parcel of making Israeli defense companies more profitable.
That defense technology is Israeli and is being brought back: Elbit opened a major new plant in Israel for aerial munitions in December 2024.
But no country is self-sufficient in defense: even the US uses Israeli Spike missiles on its Apache helicopters and Israeli active defense systems to protect its M1 tanks and Bradley IFVs. There are defense items like combat aircraft that Israeli industry cannot provide.
I am confident Israel has contingency plans for USA pulling back on support, weapons supply, intelligence etc. The fact is that USA occasionally does pull back, decrease support etc due to USA domestic politics. Usually Democrat presidents posturing. I am confident that Israel gameplans for various ways USA support could go.