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How Alliances Work
(Commentary) Abe Greenwald - Vice President JD Vance said on June 18, "If I was in the cabinet of the Israeli government, I might not be attacking the only powerful ally that I have anywhere left in the entire world." Vance's premise is false. Israel has relations with dozens of countries and maintains significant strategic partnerships throughout the world, even with countries that criticize it obsessively. And while Vance claims that Israeli cabinet members are personally attacking Trump, they've merely commented on the Iran deal and what it means for Israel. The vice president wasn't describing an alliance. He was describing a dependence that strips a nation of the right to disagree. What Vance is talking about is obedience. That's not how alliances work. The U.S. has never expected Britain or any other ally to surrender its voice in exchange for American protection. In a healthy alliance, partners are free to speak candidly when interests diverge. The alliance works because it's rooted in shared aims and shared values, not because one side has purchased the silence of the other. Zionism emerged, in part, as a rejection of the idea that Jews should live at the mercy of leaders whose favor could be granted one day and withdrawn the next. Actually, Israel is the only country at this moment that's been unwavering in its support for the president and the only country that's proved itself fighting alongside the U.S. in ages.