While Israel’s impunity for conducting unbridled violence is cracking in the U.S., politicians’ habit of tying career survival to Tel Aviv persists in traditional power structures, writes Ramzy Baroud.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Hukabee at a celebration in Jerusalem of the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. (US Embassy Jerusalem. Flickr/CC BY 4.0)
Two major stories regarding the United States and Israel in recent days represent profound watershed moments in the history of the relationship between both countries.
The first incident occurred on July 8 when U.S. Congressman Ro Khanna (D-CA) and his delegation were detained by armed, illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
“These hoodlums come in with machine guns — an M4, an American-made machine gun — and they detain us,” Khanna in a stunning statement. “They block off the road. And then they call the IDF, and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans.”
Equally shocking to the congressman’s direct encounter with the raw, lawless reality of the occupation was the response of the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee. Rather than defending an elected American lawmaker, Huckabee dismissed Khanna’s harrowing experience as a mere “stunt.”
Israeli settlers on Shuhada Street in Hebron, 2010. (ISM Palestine – Flickr/Wikimedia Commons/ CC BY-SA 2.0)
This defiance of old taboos, however, is not confined to progressive factions. In an even more unprecedented development on July 15, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance used an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience to deliver some of the sharpest criticism of Israel ever uttered by a sitting, top-tier U.S. official.
Addressing a reported Israeli government-funded online influence campaign aimed at sabotaging the administration’s diplomatic efforts, a furious Vance accused “certain elements within the Israeli government” of actively trying to derail peace negotiations and manipulate American public opinion.
He went so far as to target the operators behind the foreign-backed campaign, telling them directly to “go to hell.”
Yet, even as fierce criticism of Israel reaches the very apex of American politics, a profound, schizophrenic rupture divides Washington. While the American public, influential media personalities, and top-tier politicians are openly turning against Israel’s unbridled violence, the traditional power structures continue to toe the line.
Vance at a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Georgia, in April. (Gage Skidmore/ Flickr/ CC BY-SA 2.0)
This is explicitly evident in Congress, where establishment politicians remain busy acting as defense contractors for Tel Aviv.
Lawmakers are quietly pushing forward with Section 219 of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2027. Far from distancing the U.S. from the ongoing regional bloodbath, this legislation aims to permanently integrate and synchronize the U.S. and Israeli militaries under a joint “Defense Technology Cooperation Initiative.”
This institutional blind spot is why the entire alliance is beginning to look utterly ridiculous.
Traditional foreign policy theory views Israel as an American “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the Middle East, policing the region on behalf of Western hegemony. Whether that was ever true is highly debatable.
Today, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, the relentless war on Iran and the escalating aggressions against Lebanon and Syria have yielded zero strategic value to the American people. Instead, the United States has paid a massive financial and moral largesse to fund bloody regional wars that disrupt the global economy and make Washington a direct, complicit partner in the destruction of the Palestinian people.
Yet, the American administration continues to offer unquestioning support, with the exception of occasionally leaked, manufactured “tense” phone calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. No matter the physical, economic, or reputational damage inflicted on the U.S., Washington continues to march blindly toward the precipice.
To believe this subservience is a recent phenomenon is to misunderstand history.
For many, the physical detention of Congressman Khanna by Israeli forces evokes the memory of Rachel Corrie — the 23-year-old American peace activist who was brutally crushed to death by an Israeli military bulldozer in Rafah on March 16, 2003, while peacefully shielding a Palestinian family home from demolition.
In both cases, the message from Tel Aviv was clear: American status offers no protection.
March 16, 2003 — Rachel Corrie, on right with bullhorn, nonviolently blocking Israeli bulldozers from destroying Palestinian homes along the Rafah/Egyptian border along with nine other International Solidarity Movement volunteers. This photo is from earlier in the day on which Israeli forces killed her. (Joe Carr/Wikimedia Commons/Copyrighted free use)
Yet, this dependency runs deeper, rooted in the 1967 U.S.S. Liberty incident. During the Six-Day War, Israeli forces launched a relentless two-hour attack on an unarmed U.S. intelligence ship, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171.
Instead of demanding accountability, the Johnson administration accepted Israel’s excuse of a “mistake” and covered up the truth to protect its ally. This established a decades-long precedent: Washington would act as a political and military shield for Israeli actions, even at the cost of American lives.
Damage to U.S.S. Liberty, June 1967. (Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain)
It is often argued that Israel’s stranglehold on American policy stems entirely from the financial power of its lobby in Washington, particularly the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC).
Conventional wisdom holds that AIPAC’s true dominance as the ultimate kingmaker began in 1981, when it waged a historic, ferocious battle to block President Ronald Reagan’s proposed sale of AWACS early-warning surveillance aircraft to Saudi Arabia.
But the U.S.S. Liberty incident occurred long before the lobby wielded such immense power. The truth is that the U.S. government has simply lost control of the very creature it has nurtured and shielded for decades.
Blaming this dependency solely on campaign contributions no longer suffices: the rot is far deeper. It is driven by a deep-seated fear and trepidation among American politicians who have spent their entire careers learning that political survival requires absolute obedience to Tel Aviv.
This is precisely why Vance’s recent remarks are so critical. It proves that the armor of absolute impunity is cracking, and the language of genuine, systemic criticism of Israel has officially been normalized in mainstream political discourse.
Dr. Ramzy Baroud is a widely published and translated author, an internationally syndicated columnist and editor of The Palestine Chronicle. His latest book is The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto Press, 2018). He earned a Ph.D. in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter (2015), and was a non-resident scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, UCSB. Visit his website.
This article is from Z Network, is funded solely through the generosity of its readers.
Views expressed in this article and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
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The u.s.- government must prove, that they are not usurped by a severely criminal mass murdering syndicate.
So far, everything indicates that they are.
For many, many decades already.
“Traditional foreign policy theory views Israel as an American “unsinkable aircraft carrier” in the Middle East, policing the region on behalf of Western hegemony. Whether that was ever true is highly debatable.”
Highly debatable? Are you kidding me?
The problem, as I see it, is the low educational standards within the USA, particularly amongst politicians and the related, religeous fundementalism that pervades everything.
You end up with a powerful political layer of religeous idiots who actually believe in biblical literalism such that the earth is less than 10,000 years old and the [modern] Jews are gods chosen people. The zionist Israelis are more than happy for these useful idiots to direct policy. These are the people guiding the political direction and the ones worshiping and supporting Israel. Until these people are removed from positions of power nothing will change.
“The problem, as you see it.”
This is such a succinct compact rendering of an enormous threat to mankind you deserve credit for superbly stating the truth.
Rave on my friend rave on!
“Is Deeper Than AIPAC”
I do wish that people abroad who want to write about American politics would learn a little something about American politics. This was always deeper than AIPAC, even 20 to 30 years ago. AIPAC was always just the biggest and most publicly prominent organization in a larger group/system of organization that was better described as the “Israel Lobby”, or sometimes as the “Jewish Lobby” since Israel tries to mobilize worldwide Judaism to support their nationalistic cause.
And of course, in the modern Democratic Party, this Israel Lobby has stopped even openly identifying itself, now pumping in money under the sort of meaningless cover names that proliferate in America’s corrupt politics … such as “the coalition for children’s happy futures” or some other such good-sounding nonsense (note: name meant to be fictional and not to be any real actual oligarch funded political bribery group). Still, even though the money is hidden from the public’s view, the candidate knows the deals they made with the devil to get that money.
Any assumption that American politics is honest or transparent ended back during Obama’s time with the rule changes like “Citizen’s United” that openly legalized black money flowing into American politics via all sorts of shady channels. This ended the pro-democracy reforms of the post-Watergate era that tried to restrain Tricky Dick’s slush-funds used to pay for Plumbers. Which means that ever since the days of the Great Liberal Obama, it was relatively worthless to focus only on “AIPAC” as the money and influence is now back to Tricky Dick levels of obscurity. Even while Obama used Tricky Dick’s practices of using government agencies against political opponents.
If you are blaming Obama for Citizens United you have been grossly misinformed.
Republicans loaded the scotus we continue to deal with to this day. You would have more credibility if you had blamed this on the Clinton’s.
I do not see my criticism here as a personal attack because you are entitled to your own opinions. You are not going to be taken seriously as long as you construct your own version of history however. Your opinions are very obviously based on your personal misunderstanding of the history here.
I really regret building my case before criticizing you. I’ll apologize and beg you humor me long enough to explain a very critical observation I have the benefit of learning about through lots of dedicated observations.
A sociologist friend of mine once asked me how was it I knew what I thought knew. Where did this thought in my head come from. I responded to him I pay close attention to the noise. Having been a professor and lecturer at an institution of higher learning he had lots of experience at putting me through the ringer. He was the teacher and I was student. I was a grate experience. We remian friends to this day.
I regress.
Second line first paragraph. “This has always been deeper than AIPAC even 20 to 30 years ago.” Correct you are! Much bigger and for much longer. From the nineteen fifties to this point in time. JKH & RFK were after certain members of the numerous fund raisers working on the behalf of Jewish Agency, Israeli Agency and through, by and for Zionist agency. They were murdered when they could not be bought. SEE: IRmep. Israellobby. April 1962 they were actively pushing DoJ by order to investigate those issues.
Sixty four years ago. Zionist supporters murdered them and won the ensuing debateless struggle for total power by the elite old money Zionist cause.
The true history of the U.S. government turning it’s sovereignty over to criminal Zionist power brokers is much longer that a period of thirty years.
Than you for your attenion to this matter.
J D Vance is a limited hangout.
switchcraft the art of lying
Stop the Switchcraft: Vote for Transparency.”
“Government is Not a Magic Show. Ban Switchcraft.”
“No More Switchcraft: We See Through the Illusions.”
Focus on AccountabilitR (Stopping the Lies)
“Switchcraft: The Art of Political Lying Ends Now.”
“Expose the Switchcraft. Hold Them Accountable.”
“We Need Truth, Not Switchcraft.”
Focus on SRstemic Change (Switching the Power)
“Tired of Switchcraft? Switch Your Vote.”
“End the Switchcraft. Clean Up Our Government.”
“Switchcraft Belongs on Stage, Not in Office.”
1. The Cash-Stuffed Envelope “Switch”
The Real-World Context: The classic political bribe, such as the famous Bob
Menendez corruption scandal where federal investigators found over $480,000 in
cash stuffed into envelopes and hidden inside jackets.
The Campaign Phrase: “They take cash in the backroom and switch their votes on
the floor. End the Switchcraft—Vote Them Out.”
2. The TaxpaRer MoneR “Bait-and-Switch”
The Real-World Context: When a politician promises public funds for public
infrastructure (like schools or roads) but covertly funnels those contracts to their
own corporate donors or family-owned shell companies.
The Campaign Phrase: “Our tax dollars go in, but corporate favors come out. Stop
the Switchcraft with Public Funds.”
3. The “Media Favor” Token Switch
The Real-World Context: “Brown envelope journalism”, where politicians or their
aides slide cash, luxury items, or secret perks to reporters to kill bad stories or
manufacture positive spin.
The Campaign Phrase: “Bribing the press to hide the truth is just political illusion.
Expose the Switchcraft, Demands Free Media.”
4. The Campaign Contribution “Misdirection”
The Real-World Context: Dark money and super PACs, where a politician pretends
to represent everyday voters while secretly legalizing massive, untraceable donations
from special interest groups to fund their campaigns.
“Switchcraft: The Lie Stops Here.”
#EndTheSwitchcraft
#NoMoreSwitchcraft
Nothing I read here is a misrepresentation of fact but a legitimate history of events.
I have a very real issue with where on the time line of the U.S., Israeli relationship he starts his story here.
Suffice to say here Dr. Baroud respectfully allowed to present his opinions on this relationship his effort here falls short of revealing the entire series of events leading to incestuous relationship developed between the U.S. Intelligence Apparatus and the infant Israeli Intelligence Community.
Those who study CIA history have made great leaps in the revelations of CIA misdeeds. Their most egregious being their possessing knowledge of the impending murder of JFK and standing idly by and allowing the hit.
The U.S.A.E.C. covered up the diversion of highly enriched U235 from USAEC to NUMEC to Israeli operatives.
JFK and RFK were hot on the trail of Zionist operatives in the U.S., they both died as a direct result.
No harm no foul, but let us please for the sake of JUSTICE get the story right!
Professor Ramzy Baroud closes his erstwhile treatise saying:
“This is precisely why Vance’s recent remarks are so critical. It proves that the armor of absolute impunity is cracking, and the language of genuine, systemic criticism of Israel has officially been normalized in mainstream political discourse.”
Mining the political rhetorical posturing of a creature like J.D. Vance to “prove” viable “language of genuine, systemic criticism of Israel has officially been normalized in mainstream political discourse.”; is not the stuff of informed reality! It certainly does not, in the wildest of imaginations, constitute any rational example that within our present national political representation “the armor of absolute impunity is cracking”.
Great call Thom, great call! What a brilliant observation by of which, we have the pleasure of joyful enlightenment.
Very well said Sir.
I believe that Israel took over our governance institutions at the highest levels before the USS Liberty attack in 1967. In “The Devil’s Chessboard” David Talbot makes clear that Lyndon Johnson was directly involved, along with about 20 others, including Israelis, in the assassination of JFK. Other authors make the same case. As in any conspiracy to commit a serious crime, all of the co-conspirators end up with blackmail material on all of the other conspirators. The assassination of a sitting president is about the most serious crime one can commit. So it stands to reason that all of the things that Lyndon Johnson handed the Israelis after he assumed the presidency could have been, and probably were, the result of the blackmail potential of exposing LBJ’s complicity in the assassination. He not only covered Israel’s tracks in the USS Liberty attack, he handed them the next stages of their nuclear weapons program. It’s also possible that this blackmail by the Israelis factored into his decision not to run for the presidency in 1968 – he was hopelessly compromised, forever. While the Western Mafia (and its Israeli component) took control of the American economy on December 23rd, 1913, and attempted a military coup less than a year after FDR took office, it’s arguable that it was November 22nd, 1963 when they succeeded with a political coup and took full control of our governance institutions. The Mafia has been widening and deepening its control ever since, so we have a lot to unwind to gain back the control of our country. And I believe the fate of the world does likely hinge on the citizens of the West taking back control of their countries from the Mafia that has been running them for many generations now.