Let’s be honest about U.S./Israel relationship

by Timothy Adams, Stevensville

Healthy alliances are built on mutual accountability, transparency, and shared values. Yet for decades, the relationship between the United States and Israel has operated on a different standard — one where scrutiny is discouraged, facts are sidestepped, and legitimate questions are often portrayed as disloyal or racist. It is time to speak honestly about whether this serves American interests, moral principles, or global stability. 

Israel is frequently described as America’s “closest ally.” Yet in practice, this alliance often behaves more like a one-way arrangement in which the United States extends extraordinary privileges while receiving little transparency in return. Israel does not register its lobby organizations under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, despite engaging in extensive political influence work in Washington. U.S. officials refuse to publicly acknowledge Israel’s nuclear arsenal — even though it is widely recognized by international security experts — because doing so would trigger legal implications regarding foreign aid and nonproliferation policies. When a partner is allowed to operate outside rules that others must follow, we are no longer dealing in equality, but exemption. 

History gives us vivid examples. In 1967, Israeli forces attacked the USS Liberty in international waters, killing 34 American sailors and wounding 171. Survivors have spent decades calling for transparency and accountability. Their grief and unanswered questions deserve dignity, not silence. Yet most elected officials avoid the topic entirely. 

More recently, when a senior Israeli official was arrested in the United States in a sting operation involving solicitation of a minor, he posted bond and promptly left the country. While some prosecutors insisted no special treatment occurred, the optics were unmistakable: when diplomatic politics intervene, accountability can be uneven. There are also past examples of Israel refusing to extradite individuals accused of crimes, including sexual offenses involving minors. Shielding wrongdoers is not a mark of friendship — for either nation. 

Our financial relationship deserves similar scrutiny. In a single year, the U.S. sent roughly $17.9 billion in security aid to Israel — more than the entire annual federal transfers received by many individual states. For example, Montana received about $4.7 billion, West Virginia about $8.4 billion, and Washington, DC about $7.5 billion in FY 2022. Few voters in these places are aware that a foreign country receives more assistance than many of their own communities. 

This is not a call to side against anyone — it is a call to uphold universal standards. A nation that has launched strikes across multiple countries in the past year, killed numerous journalists — more than recorded in any conflict in modern history — and is credibly accused by international human-rights organizations of obstructing cease-fire negotiations and targeting humanitarian personnel must be held to the same legal and moral standards we apply elsewhere. After the Holocaust and World War II, the international community established legal norms — including the Geneva Conventions and Nuremberg principles — specifically to prevent atrocities, protect civilians, and reject the idea that certain governments are beyond accountability. To claim those standards apply only selectively dishonors the very history and suffering they were created to address. 

America’s credibility depends on consistency. True allies do not grant blank checks or look away when laws and human rights are ignored. Real friendship means upholding shared values even when it is uncomfortable — especially when it is uncomfortable. We owe that standard to ourselves, to future generations, and to the world we helped shape after WWII. If we believe in justice, equality, and accountability, then our policies must reflect those principles without exception.