For those curious about whether Israel is more of a liability than an asset to the United States, consider what we have to lose. Aside from the shared values, the stability of having the only democracy in the Middle East as an ally and Israel as a foothold for the United States in the region, Israel provides more intelligence to the United States than the U.S. intelligence communities. In a region engulfed in turmoil and governments thrust into near civil war (see Lebanon, Egypt), intelligence on what is to come is critical for U.S. policymakers’ decisions on how to engage the region.
As one Ynet op-ed puts it:
“General John Keegan, a former chief of US Air Force Intelligence determined that Israel’s contribution to US intelligence was “equal to five CIAs.”Senator Daniel Inouye, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and former Chairman of the Intelligence Committee said “The intelligence received from Israel exceeds the intelligence received from all NATO countries combined.”
He assessed that Soviet military hardware which was transferred, by Israel, to the US (P-12 Soviet radar in 1969, Mig-21 and Mig-23 Soviet fighter aircraft in 1966 and 1989 respectively, etc.) tilted the global balance of power in favor of America and amounted to a mega-billion dollar bonus to the US.”
The U.S. might have a slew of intelligence agencies that offer substantive information on the rest of the world. That community includes:
However, the intelligence capabilities of the Israeli Mossad are unmatched. If Congress is looking for ways to more effectively utilize U.S. dollars, they should look at the way Israeli intelligence is conducted and take a lesson or two.
But, Israeli intelligence has an innate capability that the United States must stretch to accomplish. Jews, by their very history, have been spread throughout the Middle East, where they have accumulated the cultural knowledge to blend in inside the very countries that are the largest threats to the United States and Israel. For example, a large contingent of Israelis come from Lebanon, and their Arabic skills, knowledge of Islam and familiarity with Arab culture enables them to become a part of society without being questioned. While there are many U.S. citizens with that background, many of those Americans did not grow up in the Middle East and in the local culture, thereby putting them a step behind their Israeli counterparts.
Even those Americans that could match Israelis’ ability to blend in are still few and far between and have to have a desire to become part of the intelligence community. Israelis, on the other hand, are — for the most part — required to join the military and those Israelis with Arabic skills are drafted into intelligence, immediately launching their career in this field.
In short, Israeli intelligence is unmatched. And, the utilization of Israeli intelligence could be the sole reason for maintaining a strong U.S.-Israel relationship, not to mention a slew of other reasons.
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