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What's Behind the Campaign to Demonize Israel in America?
(JNS) Jonathan S. Tobin - In recent months, the world has witnessed some of the closest cooperation between the governments and armed forces of the U.S. and its ally Israel. The war launched on Feb. 28 against Iran was an exhibition of high-tech warfare that bespoke both the common purpose of the two nations and the trust that has been built over the years between their militaries. It was made possible by the willingness of the two governments to be engaged tactically on a level that rivals the alliance between the U.S. and Britain during the Second World War. That collaboration upsets the political foes of the Trump administration and Israel. It's also galling to the small but vocal faction on the American right that is isolationist in its sensibilities and virulently anti-Israel in a way that often betrays the antisemitic attitudes of its advocates. That is the context for understanding the story that made headlines at NBC News and the New York Times about alleged Israeli spying on the U.S. A deep dive into the details of the story reveals that it was not based on any actual revelations about Israeli espionage that had been uncovered. Instead, the articles merely floated suspicions. Moreover, it flies in the face of what credible sources say about Israeli intelligence. Journalist Yossi Melman, who currently writes for Ha'aretz and is no fan of the Netanyahu government, has been covering this subject for decades. He wrote on June 7: "Israel's intelligence community stopped spying on U.S. soil and against American targets or individuals around the world following the Pollard affair in 1985. Period." Melman agrees that the real story here is why some figures in the Pentagon leaked these claims to liberal media outlets that remain notoriously hostile to the administration they serve. The U.S.-Israel alliance is not a matter of American charity or mythical Israeli manipulation. It is a foundational element of U.S. national security against the ongoing threat of Islamist terror that deserves the support of all American patriots.