Letters to the Editor
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Blood, oil, sweat, and toil
I don't think this is particularly surprising; Israel's always had a tech advantage relative to its Arab neighbors, and after 1967's victory, got to the front of the American foreign/military aid line, where it's comfortably been for a very long time (although it finally appears to be slightly displaced, it's still surely in the top five, maybe $3-4 billion a year?)
The timing of increased US interest in and support for Israel is interesting, paralleling our increased thirst for foreign oil -- and for controlling those oil resources.
I suppose having a client state like Israel in the region to draw fire for us keeps the region less unified and more favorable to our kind of support (in terms of Arab countries that recognize Israel's right to exist, versus ones who don't; ones that are Islamist and ones that are nationalist/fascist -- with American aid flowing to the ones who play ball, while us boycotting, embargoing, and/or invadings the ones who don't -- that seems natural on the face of it, but the ones playing ball are pursuing policies that create the fabled instability in the region, turning it into a powderkeg, and feed the Islamist movement, and make us "The Great Satan").
Israel's illegal, undeclared nukes and the double standard we have toward them in international law doesn't suit our national interest -- and, in truth, doesn't suit Israel's long-term interests, either; it makes them too dependent on our aid as we continue to stir the pot in the region; there's a price to be paid for being on our payroll.
Our whole Middle East policy is a disaster, and will likely remain in place until every drop of oil has been wrung from the region; then we'll move on, and leave Israel twisting in the wind.
I don't think our assorted aid to the region helps make it a more peaceful place; I think our aid makes it a more violent, dangerous place.