“USS Liberty that Israel intentially attacked at the loss of, I think, around 130 US sailors?”
I have problems with that incident. Whether it was intentional or not is absolutely up for debate (and let’s not go down that road on this road). Iran has been fomenting terrorism against Israel and the US since the Islamic Rev in 1979. These are purposeful attacks on Americans that are consistent since the Revolution and have killed many Americans including the Beirut bombing for one.
“I really doubt that Israel would give us time of day. They were proxies in the Middle East during the Cold War but that is long past. Today, they offer nothing but headaches.”
That is an opinion. But the facts are that the US and Israel are defacto allies, with like Western cultures being shared....democracy, constitutional government, free markets, Judeo-Christian, enemies and victims of terrorism etc. If you read any Diplomatic History book you’ll find the history of the nations is a positive one with some shared foreign policy goals.
They are clearly our only true ally in an area that is important for economic and political reasons.
I was a undergrad and grad student of US history, with focus on US foreign policy. While that was many years ago, I haven’t forgotten what I read, nor have I not been reading since.
I agree, the two nations have been defacto allies. I think this is ending. The Cold War is over, a distant memory. Israel has nothing to offer the US. And, contrary to your suggestion, it is not a democracy and regarding terrorism, its hands are just as bloody as other nations in the region. Finally, shared culture?! Not today. Not recently. We are past segregation. We are definitely not purveyors of apartheid, nor do we occupy, seize, and settle lands, wage ethnic cleansing, and so forth under the banner of a religion. No, we do not share culture or values. At least, for me, these are not values I associate with the US.