As a world leader, the United States has plenty of conditional allies and even occasionally helpful “frenemies,” but when the chips are down that list of nations that always have our backs gets pretty short pretty quickly.Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, and most of the time Australia.
We have dozens of nations that depend on U.S. aid and assistance for their survival and many friends in Latin America, Europe, and parts of Asia, but in a real pinch – in that moment – domestic priorities and international relationstend to dictate the volume and level of response.
The United Kingdom and the U.S. havean always statedspecial relationship. Canada is both our largest trade partner and often our most overlooked ally.But when we speak of military allies in other parts of the globe and particularly when actions speak louder than, say, the words and occasional pontifications of NATO, the EU or the G-7,ties to the people and government of Israel are among the strongest.
The first surviving written reference to the people of Israel was by an Egyptian Pharoah Merneptah from 1209 B.C.: “Israel is laid waste, and his seed is not.”Jesus Christ himself was a Jew, born near Bethlehem, not far from Jerusalem and the western bank of Palestine. Our friends of the Jewish faith have had problems with their neighbors ever since.
The region came under Persian rule during the Ottoman Empire, colloquially known as the Turkish Empire, from 1299-1922. Outlasting by several centuries the Roman Empire, the Ottoman/Persian/ Turkish Empire would reach its peak of influence during the 1700s, but also would continue through the onset of World War I.During these centuries, the Middle East, including modern-day Israel, also experienced a significant migration of Muslims and other tribes and faiths, from an empire based in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul, Turkey).
The Ottoman Army entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers (including Germany and Austria-Hungary). On the losing side of WWI, and fully defeated, during October 1918 and the Armistice of Mudros, most Ottoman territories were divided between Britain, France, Greece and Russia.
The fading but still mighty British Empire would have domain over the bulk of the Middle East from the end of WWI through 1956.The axis of Britain’s Middle Easternempire stretched from the Suez Canal in Egypt, across Saudi Arabia and almost the entire Persian Gulf.
In February 1945, an ailingWinston Churchill and a frail President Franklin Delano Rooseveltmet with Soviet leaderJoseph Stalinto divvy up the global spoils of World War II.Germany was divided, Poland’s historic borders were restored, and Russia graciously accepted the domain of virtually all the rest of Eastern Europe, excluding Turkey and Greece.
The nation of Israel was founded on May 14, 1948, along with United Nations Resolution 181, which relinquished British control of Palestineand called for a two-state solution with the creation of a Jewish State (Israel), to be followed by the creation of an Arab state.The latter never happened.
To this day, the Palestinians refer to that date as Nabka, translated as a day of catastrophe.
Israeli leaders, on the other hand, have agreed toseveral different versions of a“two-state solution” on nearly a halfdozen occasions. In each of those instances, it has been the Palestinians, Arabs, Hamas, and others who saidNo!to such compromise.
Throughthe centuries in the Middle East there has been,however, only one constant. Whether through the Holocaust or other attempts at global extermination,it is the nation of Israel that almost always is attacked. Israelis live in constant preparation for that day which has now come from within their borders, spurred by the ruling government of Hamas inside the heavily populated Gaza Strip with a primarily civilian population of more than two million.
Regardless of the tragic outcomes and with much more blood likely to be shed, I know enough about history to see the most injured party, as well asamongour most loyalofallies.I stand completely and clearly with the nation, the leadership, and the people of Israel.
And I still stand with Ukraine, too.This world has good actors, allies, and enemies alike. Unfortunately, there will always remaintimes when we need to make –and keep– our stand to be willing to fight the good fight.Red has long been a favorite colorof mine, butroyal blue is starting to grow on me, a primary color in both the flags of Israel and Ukraine … though I will never quite come around to that other Ukrainian flag color of yellow.