While America began providing funds to the Jewish state in order to bolster a cold-war ally, the benefits to the American economy and the American people of doing so have only increased since the fall of the Soviet Union. This is not only because Jerusalem spends most of the military-aid money it receives on U.S.-manufactured hardware, writes Frank Musmar:

Israeli businesses invest heavily in the U.S. economy, with Israel placing among the top-twenty suppliers of direct investment in the U.S. More than $150 billion was invested by Israeli companies in the U.S. between 2010 and 2015.

Strategically, the U.S. and Israel have developed deep . . . ties to confront common threats. This . . . relationship is a crucial pillar of America’s Middle East security framework, and the partnership is continually growing and expanding into new areas, [drawing] in part upon Israel’s capabilities in designing advanced military, homeland-security, counterterrorism, and cyber-protection technologies that help the U.S. meet its growing security challenges.

Israel is the place where U.S. special-operations units trained before deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Israeli armor-plating technology protects U.S. soldiers. Israel is a cost-effective, battle-tested laboratory for U.S. defense industries, and it provides the U.S. with more intelligence than all the NATO countries put together. American battle tactics are formulated according to the Israeli playbook. . . . It is [also], in effect, the largest U.S. aircraft carrier, yet it does not require a single American boot on the ground.

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.