So much for the dreaded “Zionist lobby.”
US President Donald Trump, who is unquestionably the most pro-Israel President to ever sit in the Oval Office, upended more than four decades of American foreign policy this week by announcing that not only would the US sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia, but that the fighters would be of a “similar level” to those used by Israel and “top of the line.”
Overnight, America’s longstanding policy of maintaining Israel’s “qualitative military edge” in the region has been turned on its head, and one of the most important and wealthiest Arab nations in the world will have esssentially the same advanced fighter planes as Israel.
Israel opposed this deal. The IAF has warned it could harm Israel’s air superiority in the Middle East and outgoing Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer met with US officials to warn of the danger of the designs being leaked to Russia, China, and other nefarious actors.
Nevertheless, Israel’s objections went unheeded.
This may have been a shock to Isral, but it must certainly come as a shock to those who claim that the US is controlled or “occupied” by Zionists and that America’s foreign policy is subordinated to Israeli interests at the expense of American interests. If their conspiracy theories were true, there is no way this sale could have happened, because the “all-powerful Zionist lobby” would have stopped it.
That is because the conspiracy theory of Israeli control of America is a myth and has always been a myth. This is not even the first time Israel and its supporters failed to prevent an American arms sale to Saudi Arabia. In 1981, the Israeli government and AIPAC furiously opposed then-President Ronald Reagan’s intention to sell Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) to Saudi Arabia, which also threatened Israel’s technological edge at the time. Reagan ultimately ignored Israel’s concerns and went ahead with the sale.
History repeated itself 44 years later, only this time, Israel did not oppose the sale as vigorously as before out of a desire not to pick a fight with Trump.
When the pro-Israel lobby truly needs to demonstrate its supposed power and influence to oppose an American president’s policy, the president almost always goes ahead with his preferred policy and ignores the lobby. This happened not only with the arms sales under Reagan and Trump, but with Barack Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran and the Biden Administration’s decision to withhold weapons shipments to Israel in response to the anti-Israel lobby.
American support for Israel, and especially Trump’s support for Israel, has been based on a mutually beneficial alliance, shared values, and the fact that America is one of the least antisemitic nations in modern history. American politicians have historically supported Israel because the American people have historically supported Israel and because it has been in America’s interests to do so. If the people and politicians did not already support Israel, groups like AIPAC would have no influence whatsoever.
Trump decided to sell F-35s to Saudi Arabia for the same reason he decided to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities and to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel - he sees it as in America’s interest to support and reward good allies and as the right thing to do, even when Israel has legitimate reasons to oppose it.
America and Israel are close allies and good friends. It is only natural that the two support each other, just as it is natural that the US and Britain support each other. But that does not mean that they always agree. And when they disagree, the American position is usually what wins out.
George H.W. Bush was able to stop Israel from retaliating after Iran launched dozens of scud missiles at the Jewish State during the Gulf War even though Israel had not participated in the war at all. Barack Obama was able to get Benjamin Netanyahu to freeze construction in the settlements for 10 months. Dwight Eisenhower was able to get Israel to withdraw from all the territory it had conquered in the 1956 war against Egypt. And Donald Trump was able to make Israel stand down and not retaliate after Iran violated the ceasefire that ended the 12-Day War in June.
The conspiracy theorists who insist that only nefarious actors can explain America’s decision not to support the murder of 7 million Jews will never be persuaded by facts. Not even Iranian plots to assassinate the president and repeated chants of “death to America” led by the Supreme Leader can persuade them that it is in America’s interest not to allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, reality continues to prove them wrong.
Gary Willig is a veteran member of the Arutz Sheva news team.