“My people are starting to hate Israel.”

That’s what President Donald Trump reportedly told a prominent Jewish donor recently. His remark wasn’t just a political aside; it was a warning. As images of starvation and devastation from Gaza flood American screens, even Trump has privately acknowledged the reality of “real starvation.” A shift is underway, and it is reshaping the foundations of American politics and foreign policy.

Once-unquestioning support for Israel on the American right is beginning to erode. MAGA-aligned voices—from Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who labeled Israel’s war in Gaza a “genocide,” to populist influencers like Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson—are now publicly challenging the U.S.–Israel relationship. Bannon has observed that Israel has “very little support” among the under-30 MAGA base. Carlson, in an interview with progressive host Ana Kasparian, went further: “They [Israel] are not allowed to use my tax dollars to bomb churches,” he declared, accusing Tel Aviv of war crimes and questioning continued U.S. military aid.

This growing skepticism reflects a deeper structural problem in the U.S.–Israel relationship: a classic case of moral hazard. Israel operates with the expectation that Washington will foot the bill—politically, financially, and militarily—regardless of how destabilizing or damaging its actions may be. Israeli leaders have repeatedly defied American warnings, expanded illegal settlements, and abandoned even the pretense of a two-state solution with the Palestinians, all while receiving billions in unconditional aid and carte blanche diplomatic cover.

As former Defense Secretary Robert Gates said back in 2011, Israel is an “ungrateful ally” that gives “nothing in return” for American guarantees, military support, and intelligence sharing. Generals David Petraeus and James Mattis, both former commanders of U.S. Central Command, have likewise warned that Israel’s policies directly undermine U.S. interests in the region, inflame anti-American sentiment, and fuel recruitment for extremist groups.

Yet, Israel’s leaders continue to act with impunity, confident that the United States will absorb the political and strategic fallout. That is not the mark of a healthy alliance. It is exploitation.

Nowhere is this clearer than in Israel’s recent actions toward Iran. Despite explicit warnings from Washington, Israeli forces launched a surprise attack on Iran on June 13, hitting nuclear, military, and civilian sites, and killing senior commanders, scientists, and hundreds of civilians, including children. The timing was no accident: the strikes came just as U.S. diplomats were reportedly on the verge of a breakthrough in nuclear negotiations with Tehran.

The fallout was immediate, and its costs to the United States extended far beyond diplomacy, striking at the heart of American strategic and material security. For example, in rushing to defend Israel during the 12-day war, the United States depleted roughly a quarter of its entire stockpile of THAAD missile interceptors, a vital component of America’s high-end missile defense network. These interceptors are not easily replaced; experts estimate it could take up to eight years to replenish the supply. For a country increasingly focused on deterring China, this is not burden-sharing. It is free riding by Israel, and it leaves America less secure.

And what was gained? Despite triumphalist claims that Iran’s nuclear program was “obliterated,” the reality is murky. The fate of Iran’s enriched uranium and advanced centrifuges remains unknown, and Tehran has expelled international inspectors while embracing a posture of nuclear ambiguity, mirroring Israel’s own opaque doctrine. Far from eliminating the challenge, the attacks have reinforced a hard truth: Short of a full-scale U.S. invasion, there is no military solution to Iran’s nuclear program. Without inspectors or boots on the ground, its status is fundamentally unverifiable. Only diplomacy—long preferred by Trump—offers a path to lasting and verifiable limits on Iran’s nuclear activities.

Moreover, despite advanced U.S. and Israeli air defenses, dozens of Iranian missiles broke through, inflicting the worst damage Israeli cities have seen in decades. Rather than projecting strength, the war revealed deep vulnerabilities. Even leading voices on the right are rejecting the triumphalist spin: Bannon asserted that the ceasefire was needed “to save Israel” as it took “brutal hits” and ran low on defenses, while Trump acknowledged that Israel got hit “very hard.” Far from boosting U.S. deterrence, the Israeli war on Iran drained critical American resources, exposed strategic gaps, and entangled America in yet another foreign conflict.

Worse still, Israel’s ambitions don’t end with Iran. Its most hawkish advocates in Washington are now floating escalatory military action against Syria and even NATO ally Turkey. Meanwhile, Israeli leaders have their eyes set on annexing the West Bank and fully occupying Gaza, moves that would further destabilize the region. These reckless objectives threaten to entangle the United States in a cascade of endless wars, isolate it diplomatically, and drain resources and credibility better spent countering real strategic threats. Once again, Israel will expect Washington to pick up the tab—politically, financially, and militarily.

All of this is unfolding as global headlines denounce U.S. complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza, widely seen as genocidal and driven by ethnic cleansing. Around the world, public opinion is shifting sharply against Washington. Trust in the United States is collapsing at a time when it can least afford it, just as it seeks to rally global allies and compete with rising powers like China and Russia.

In this strategic context, the comparison often made between Israel and U.S. partners like Ukraine or Taiwan simply falls apart. Iran is not a great power rival, and Israel is not on the frontlines of a global contest. The U.S. military assesses that Iran’s military posture is defensive, and its nuclear program—while a concerning proliferation risk—is aimed at deterrence, not aggression. Yet for over four decades, Washington has treated Iran as a primary adversary, fixating on a mid-sized, conventionally weak country with no nuclear weapons and a stagnant economy. This misplaced obsession—driven by Israeli pressure and domestic politics—has undermined U.S. diplomatic leverage and distracted from the real challenges of Great Power Competition.

At the same time, Israel continues to prioritize its own interests with little regard for U.S. strategic concerns. While Washington calls for global alignment against Russia and China, Israel maintains ties with both powers. It has refused to sanction Russia. It has deepened commercial ties with Beijing, allowing a Chinese state-owned company to operate the Haifa port—used by the U.S. Navy—despite warnings from American officials about espionage risks. Chinese investment in Israel’s tech and cyber sectors has surged. In effect, Israel safeguards its own flexibility on the world stage while pressuring Washington to forfeit its diplomatic options in the Middle East.

Indeed, Israel has consistently opposed U.S. engagement with other regional powers—particularly Iran and, at times, Saudi Arabia—on balanced terms. Unlike competitors like China and Russia, which maintain relations with all sides to maximize influence, Israel pressures the United States to adopt rigid, zero-sum approaches that shut down diplomatic avenues and heighten the risk of war. This is not the behavior of a responsible ally. It reflects a pattern of coercive dependence in which Israel seeks to constrain American policy while securing unrestrained freedom of action for itself.

This pattern has played out for decades, with devastating consequences. Since 9/11, America’s entanglement with Israel’s hardline agenda has fueled a series of disastrous interventions. In 2002, Benjamin Netanyahu stood before Congress and “guaranteed” that invading Iraq would bring “enormous positive reverberations” across the Middle East. The reality was catastrophe: hundreds of thousands killed, the rise of ISIS, and an emboldened Iran.

These misadventures have cost trillions of dollars, stretched U.S. capacities thin, and damaged Washington’s diplomatic standing. China’s successful brokering of a rapprochement between Saudi Arabia and Iran highlighted just how far the U.S. has fallen from its once central role as a regional peacemaker.

Even more corrosive is the collapse of America’s moral authority. By defending Israel’s worst excesses—including apartheid policies and the horrific onslaught in Gaza—Washington is no longer seen as a champion of human rights, but as an enabler of extreme oppression. A foreign policy that sacrifices both national interests and democratic ideals at the altar of an extreme client state is not just irrational, it is strategically untenable.

It is long past time for a strategic reset. Israel is not the indispensable ally it is often portrayed to be, but a regional actor pursuing narrow objectives with little regard for the costs imposed on the United States. No serious partner would repeatedly push the U.S. to choose between its principles and another ruinous war. Unconditional support for Israel has produced one debacle after another, leaving America poorer, weaker, and more isolated.

A realignment of U.S. policy is urgently needed. No alliance should be unconditional, especially one that undermines American diplomacy, security, and global standing. A foreign policy rooted in restraint, realism, and responsibility would condition aid on Israeli behavior and reassert U.S. freedom of action in the Middle East. Washington should engage with all major regional powers based on national interest, not ideological rigidity. Leveraging U.S. influence to secure compromises from Israel, such as halting settlement expansion or ending the Gaza blockade, would not only ease anti-American sentiment but also serve Israel’s own long-term security.

Failing to change course will only further empower hardliners—in Tel Aviv, Tehran, and Washington—who thrive on endless conflict. America must choose: Continue down a path of costly entanglement and strategic decline, or chart a new course anchored in sovereignty, balance, and hard-nosed diplomacy.

https://www.theamericanconservative.com/israel-is-not-an-ally-its-a-liability/