Opinion: Is the U.S. relationship with Israel still worth it?

As the anniversary of 9/11 approaches, I find myself asking out loud a question I’ve whispered to myself often since the Twin Towers came down: Is the U.S. relationship with Israel worth it?

This was a lot easier to answer during the Cold War, when the U.S. supported Israel in order to counterbalance Soviet influence in the region. But, that was a long time ago, and though the Russians are still active in the Middle East, it’s not on the same scale.

Stable oil markets are also a longtime reason we have supported Israel, but that situation is changing too, as the U.S. is now the leading producer of oil on the planet.

Of course, Israel continues to help the U.S. in many important ways politically in the region. But I still feel compelled to ask: Is that enough?

The U.S. has paid a heavy price for our relationship with Israel over the years — not just in treasure, but also in blood.  According to the 9/11 Commission , U.S. support for Israel was a key reason for the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

“Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s animus toward the United States stemmed not from his experiences (in the U.S.) as a student, but rather from this violent disagreement with U.S. foreign policy favoring Israel,” reads the commission’s report.

If you are old enough to remember the U.S. energy crisis in the 1970s and the gasoline rationing that came with it, you may also remember that the fuel shortage was the result of Arab nations cutting the United States’ oil supply because they were angry about American support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War.

Or perhaps you remember the 1983 bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Lebanon, in which 241 U.S. service members were killed. At the time, it was viewed as “a lesson in the danger for the U.S. of stepping in the middle of a conflict between Israel and one of its neighbors.”

Today, as tensions in the region escalate, experts are concerned that “the chance of an assault on the U.S. is also growing.”  U.S. intelligence officials say that “there’s a rising risk Lebanese Hezbollah militants will strike Americans in the Middle East — even potentially hit inside the United States.”

I was alarmed to read in the 9/11 Commission report that the attacks were supposed to be much more severe than they were, involving 10 planes, not just three; and that Osama Bin Laden had wanted the attacks to occur much earlier — as a response to Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s highly controversial visit to a contested holy site in Jerusalem the year before. I could not help but be struck by Bin Laden’s determination to punish Americans for something Sharon had done.

The message seemed clear. As long as the U.S. supports Israel, American lives are at risk.

Hamas’s attack on Israel on Oct. 7, was nothing short of cold-blooded murder. Nearly 1,200 innocent Jewish civilians were killed, and 250 hostages were taken.

In pursuit of Hamas militants, Israeli forces have killed an estimated 40,000 Palestinians and displaced hundreds of thousands more, according to the Associated Press.

All suffering is regrettable. But, as a concerned American, with vivid memories of the World Trade Center bombings, what frightens me most about this recent stretch of violence is all of the suffering children. Specifically, I worry that a whole new generation of young Gazans are being radicalized against Israel and the United States.

Yahya Sinwar , the mastermind of the Oct. 7 attacks and Hamas’s new leader, was once one of those children. He was born in Gaza, and was deeply affected by his family’s displacement during the early wars that helped shape Israel.  He joined Hamas as a young man and rose quickly through its ranks, building a reputation for brutality so severe that it earned him the nickname, “The Butcher of Khan Younis.”

Today, as I look at the images of all the suffering young people in Gaza, I can’t help but wonder how many young “Yahya Sinwars” walk among them.

According to a recent report by the International Rescue Committee, more than 19,000 children in Gaza have been orphaned by the fighting. Children comprise more than 47 percent of Gaza’s population and half of the Palestinian deaths are thought to have been women and children.

Over 90,000 people have been injured and a million displaced — many of them children. The International Rescue Committee is concerned about the long-term effects on them from the war as they endure, “family separation, abandonment, physical and environmental dangers, injuries, and psychosocial and emotional distress.”

International aid groups are doing what they can to ease the suffering and build a future for the children of Gaza. But I know I’m not alone in thinking that, if I were a 12-year-old Gazan boy, who had watched my family and friends die in an Israeli strike and had to live in refugee camps far from my home, surrounded by poverty and despair, I’m not sure there are enough free Hershey’s chocolate bars or donated toys on the planet to make me forget about it.

K. Ward Cummings is a writer who lives in Baltimore.

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