Which country is America’s most important ally?
Without a doubt: it is Israel. Israel is the only other true democracy on the planet that is a nuclear superpower with the will and ability to project hard power over vast distances and offers the United States a reliable ally in what has been the most turbulent region on earth since the end of World War II.
Israel is of course not our only ally in the free world, or even our only ally in that region. Former Secretary of Defense James Mattis has routinely referred to the United Arab Emirates, to cite the obvious example, as “little Sparta” for two decades, and the general is right to draw attention to the UAE’s dependable friendship and commitment to our shared interests.
THE US COULD LOSE THE NEXT GREAT WAR DUE TO THE PENTAGON’S ‘BROKEN’ ACQUISITION SYSTEM
In the Pacific, we rely on Australia, India, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore and South Korea to help the US preserve the freedom of the seas and provide a balancing force for the hegemonic ambitions of General Secretary Xi and the People’s Liberation Army and Navy. Even communist Vietnam is moving towards ‘ally’ status.
Our old allies remain, at least in theory, our partners in protecting freedom around the world, but are increasingly limited by their growing anti-Israel and generally left-leaning populations when it comes to joining the US to project power anywhere outside Europe.
Did you see British or French fighters alongside our B-2s and fighters and the Israeli Air Force when it came time to destroy Iran’s looming nuclear threat? Of course not, and not just because of the political pressure generated by waves of new immigrants from the devastated countries of Libya and Syria and the poverty-stricken countries of Africa.
Europe is changing before our eyes, and we can be happy that the country can still muster the will to join Ukraine on one ‘hot’ front in the second Cold War. Both France and the United Kingdom will point to their efforts alongside ours to help Israel protect itself from Iranian missile attacks in 2024, but both countries went missing during Israel and the United States’ 12-day war against Iran in June this year. All of Europe benefited from fighting the mullahs, but they were not there when Iran’s nuclear capabilities were destroyed, even as Iran’s ballistic missiles rained down on the Jewish state. Both subsequently became embroiled in a ‘two-state theater’ when the US and its Gulf allies Hamas imposed a ceasefire, requiring the return of the last twenty surviving hostages from Gaza’s tunnels.
We must hope that India moves closer to the US and that Japan and Australia join South Korea in increasing their defense spending. (South Korea spends 2.8% of its GDP on defense, while the other two countries are below 2%.)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
We don’t have to ‘hope’ for anything when it comes to Israel. Israel spends 8.8% of its GDP on the IDF during these war years and is closer to 5% than 4% even in the most peaceful years. Israel’s high-tech defense sector is also driving much of the innovation the free world needs to stay free. Even its critics recognize Israel as an “intelligence superpower,” and its democracy is as authentic as any Western nation.
When it comes to assessing America’s allies, Israel is “first among equals.”
CLICK HERE TO BY HUGH HEWITT
