Uncommon Commentary #497: Is the End of a Friend What We Intend?

Contrary to what is often said, the USA has never been an “ally” of Israel.  Allies are states (such as the United Nations during World War II) that fight on the same side in wartime, or have an (official) peacetime agreement (e.g., the NATO) that they will fight on the same side during a future war.  The US relationship to Israel could never have been called anything more than friendship; as a description of that portion of the relationship which has now gone on for more than a quarter-century, even that term would be largely inaccurate. (Would a friend try to force a friend to make himself more vulnerable to his enemies?)