Opinion: The 'America First' case for Israel

In a JNS column, Or Horvitz argues that in an "America First" climate the U.S.-Israel alliance has to be explained again, "not as charity from a superpower to a small country, but as a partnership that serves American interests."

Horvitz writes that support for Israel is slipping among Democrats and among isolationist Republicans, and that the debate focuses too much on security aid, which he notes largely goes to U.S. defense firms.

He points to defense and intelligence first: Israel fights shared enemies itself, fought alongside the U.S. against Iran, and its intelligence helps protect American lives. He cites Israel's killing of Hezbollah chief of staff Haytham Ali Tabatabai, who had a $7 million State Department bounty for his role in American deaths, and of Ali Musa Daqduq, a Hezbollah operative involved in murdering Americans in Iraq. Critics who want to end aid, he says, "should also reckon with the alternative: accepting greater regional risk or relying more heavily on U.S. forces," noting Israel hosts only a small U.S. troop presence compared with 28,000 in South Korea.

He also argues Israel's tech sector, home to R&D centers of more than 250 American companies, gives the U.S. an edge over China in AI, quantum computing, defense tech and medicine.