It's time to cut off aid to both Palestine and Israel and act in our own interests

By Major Chris
Heatherly

Best Defense guest
columnist

"...and she loved a boy very, very much -- even more than she
loved herself." -- Shel Silverstein, The Giving Tree

Many Americans read The
Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein while growing up. Summarized, the story is
about the relationship between a young boy and a tree whose self-sacrifice to
please the boy is a recurrent theme. By book's end, the tree is reduced to
little more than a lonely stump with nothing left to give. Although The
Giving Tree is nearly 50 years old, the book's warning on the dangers of
self-sacrifice are particularly apt when describing the current state of U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian
relations. If the United States does not address the manner and tone of this
relationship to determine our irreducible interests, it risks sacrificing
international influence and our own national priorities.

Fact: The United
States provided nearly $3.1 billion to Israel in 2012.

Fact: The United
States has provided $115 billion to Israel since its foundation in 1949.

Fact: The United
States has provided over $4 billion to the Palestinians since they began
limited self-governance in the 1990s.

Question: What, if
anything, has this goodwill bought the United States and how have our own
interests been furthered?

Israeli forces
attacked the USS Liberty in
1967, killing 34 and wounding 171 U.S. sailors. Israel has conducted numerous
espionage operations against the United States, gravely damaging U.S. national
security. Amongst the known spying incidents, the case of Jonathan Pollard is
particularly egregious. A U.S. Navy intelligence analyst, Pollard passed tens
of thousands of highly classified documents to Israel before his capture in
1985. Pollard received a life sentence for espionage in 1987. Former Secretary
of Defense Caspar Weinberger considered Pollard's actions so damaging that "It
is difficult for me, even in the so-called ‘year of the spy,' to conceive of a
greater harm to national security than that caused by the defendant in the view
of the breadth, the critical importance to the U.S., and the high sensitivity
of the information he sold to Israel." Since his conviction, Israel's
government admitted to running Pollard as an agent, granted him Israeli citizenship,
and has continually lobbied for his release.

Palestinian behavior
towards the United States is no better. The Palestinian Liberation Front
hijacked the cruise ship Achille Lauro in 1985, killing U.S. passenger
Leon Klinghoffer. On 9/11, CNN and other media sources showed video of
Palestinians dancing in the streets in celebration of al Qaeda's terrorist
attacks. Hamas, a U.S. and European Union designated terrorist organization,
enjoys widespread political support from the Palestinian people and election to
parliamentary seats.

American government
support for Israel goes far beyond simple financial donations. The United
States has employed its veto authority to block United Nations Security Council
resolutions against Israel over 40 times. (By comparison, China has used the
veto authority just 8 times while Russia/Soviet Union together tallied 13.) In
most of these instances, the United States has cast the sole vote of
opposition. Additionally, the United States has deployed military assets and
personnel to protect Israel against its neighbors. Such one-sided support has
not gone unnoticed, especially in the Arab world. It generates widespread
suspicion of American motives, interests, and actions in the Middle East and
the greater Muslim street -- a trend that has occurred for decades.

Neither Israel nor
the Palestinians appear to be truly interested in a lasting, peaceful solution
to their decades-long struggle for territorial control. Israeli "settlers"
build illegal settlements in Palestinian areas in violation of U.N. resolutions.
Hamas fires rockets from schools, mosques, and other protected locations
against civilian targets. Israel conducts drone and air strikes in retaliation.
A Palestinian suicide bomber kills numerous Israeli citizens...and Israel's
military forces destroy the bomber's family home with resultant collateral
damage. Both sides clamor to play the victim on the world stage. It's a modern
day version of the Hatfield and McCoy feud with religious extremism added to
the equation.

In my opinion, there
is no compelling or logical reason for the United States to retain the status
quo relationship with either Israel or the Palestinians. Some may see this view
as either anti-Semitic or Islamaphobic. In reality, it is neither. I am an
alumnus of a Jewish national collegiate fraternity and proud to have several
Jewish and Muslim friends. I believe, however, that America should withhold all
foreign aid to both parties, reframe the situation in the Middle East, and
develop a fresh, balanced approach to Israelis and Palestinians alike. First
and foremost, this approach should be built to achieve American national
interests, be they a peaceful Middle East, greater global influence, continued
access to oil resources, a non-nuclear Iran, or the spread of democracy. My
recommendation aspires to follow President George Washington's cautious advice
on foreign entanglements. It is time to stop being the proverbial giving tree,
and instead to begin acting in our own national interests.

The opinions expressed in this article
are solely those of the author and do not reflect those of the United States
Government, the Department of Defense, or the United States Army. Major
Heatherly enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1994 and earned his commission via
Officer Candidate School in 1997. He has held a variety of assignments in
special operations, Special Forces, armored, and cavalry units. His operational
experience includes deployments to Afghanistan, Iraq, South Korea, Kuwait,
Mali, and Nigeria. He holds master's degrees from the University of Oklahoma
and the School of Advanced Military Studies.