Supporting Israel isn’t a betrayal of America First—it’s a strategic necessity for defending Western values and national security.
If you are a politically active conservative, you are more than likely well aware of the recent kerfuffle caused by Tucker Carlson’s interview of Nick Fuentes and the ensuing national dialogue regarding Israel, including antisemitism and America’s support for Israel. In my opinion, it is a net positive that the MAGA movement is working through these issues now, long before we get to the 2026 and 2028 elections, but I also believe that the dialogue has veered into unhealthy, illogical false dilemmas, such as “Are you America First or Israel First?”
I am here to trash that false dilemma.
As a patriot and a 22-year veteran of the U.S. Army, I am staunchly and unequivocally “America First,” and it is precisely because I am “America First” that I wholly support current U.S. policies regarding Israel. Further, as an active and semi-popular user of X, it often angers me when my X feed gets overwhelmed with misinformed MAGA Americans who believe support for Israel is essentially going against the USA. I am willing to consider that such people are not necessarily antisemitic, but instead lack the experience and knowledge to know just how important Israel is to the USA. For the moment, I will grant such people grace and assume they do not understand.
But understand what, you may ask?
Well, we are all products of our own experiences, so I want to talk about my formative experiences that have left me utterly and totally certain that support for Israel is solidly in America’s best interests.
I have had two full and totally different careers: first as a U.S. Army officer and second as a corporate lawyer. Those two careers have led me to extensively travel in, do business in, and live for extended periods in the Middle East and in other Central Asian, Islamic nations such as Afghanistan. I am not talking merely about the experiences that all American veterans had in Iraq and Afghanistan (although those were incredibly formative experiences for me as well). I have also traveled and lived across the entire region long-term, both in military and civilian capacities. I have worked closely with many Arab men in Kuwait and elsewhere in the region. I have made deep friendships with those who I worked most closely with, including such cultural experiences like sitting in a huge tent in the middle of the desert late at night during Ramadan, feasting on rice, goat, and fish while drinking endless cups of hot chai tea, and playing weird card games where you have to stick clothespins on your ears if you lose. I have seen firsthand how Muslim society works in the Arab and Central Asian worlds, and I know the ideas and policies that define the region—with one (and only one) exception: Israel.
Here are thirteen key things I learned:
- America’s support for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states is now and always has been based on oil. This is the only thing America genuinely has in common with these nations. Were it not for oil, we would have very little to do with those states. This is true even though the USA is so rich in oil that it does not need Gulf oil, but our European allies do need it, so we defend the GCC.
- Islamic nations consist of two classes of Muslims: jihadists and people who do not openly support jihad butmake no effort to oppose it. Islam’s historic, consistent, guiding principle is to transform the entire globe into a single Islamic state, and using deception (“taqiyya”) and force to accomplish this goal is not only accepted but desired. I am fully aware of the prevalence of Islamic apologists who point out that “jihad” simply translates from Arabic as “striving” and how jihad is really unthreatening, “inner jihad,” or one’s internal struggles to remain holy. Yet despite these apologias, “Jihad of the Sword” is an undeniable, doctrinal component of jihad, taught by Mohammed—i.e., the type of jihad that involves physically conquering infidels and forcing them to become Muslims. The entire history of Islam, literally since its inception, is a history of conquering other lands to force their inhabitants to become Muslims, pay jizya, or die. Given 9/11, ISIS, October 7, and the countless other modern actions, big and small, where violence was the tool in spreading Islam, it is foolhardy to think anything has changed since the Ridda Wars.
- In Muslim Arab countries, it is possible to become friends with highly educated, highly rational people who are some of the smartest humans you will ever meet. Yet, sadly, when the subject of Israel and/or Judaism comes up, they suddenly lapse into astonishingly irrational beings, asserting wildly antisemitic tropes straight out of the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.” Their hate is utterly irrational and—quite frankly—extremely disturbing to behold. I fear too many Americans have latched onto this ancient, highly flawed, and deeply evil way of thinking.
- Islam is anathema to Western standards of freedom. Women are openly abused and treated as chattel property, freedom of religion is suppressed, non-adherents to Islam are either discriminated against or murdered, freedom of speech is actively opposed if it goes against the words of Mohammed, and poor “Third Country Nationals” (impoverished Muslims from states such as Bangladesh) are imported for menial labor and literally treated as slaves. Islamic nations have views on personal liberty that are completely and utterly opposed to Western civilization. In the very worst Muslim nations like Afghanistan, female slavery and young boy pedophilia are not only rampant but are also considered virtuous. Islamic society is wholly incompatible with Western society.
- Every country but one (guess which one) in that region is a totalitarian state. While countries like Jordan and Egypt may masquerade as having some semblance of Western democratic concepts, in reality, every nation but one in that region offers only totalitarian, tyrannical governance where the citizenry is at the mercy of the tribal lords who rule as familial dictators. Whatever “freedom” may exist in Muslim nations is transitory, not guaranteed, and easily taken away.
- While the Middle East is a sea of tyranny and despotism, one nation and one nation alone in the region stands against such tyranny: Israel. Israel is the only nation in the region that truly functions as a democracy and guarantees personal liberty.
- While groypers and their ilk take offense to the idea of the “Judeo-Christian Tradition,” the irrefutable fact is that Israel is the only nation in that region that shares Western values of democracy, self-governance, a rule of law that does not force a religion on anyone, and guaranteed personal liberties. Israel is an egalitarian society—the only such nation in the Middle East. Don’t believe me? Roughly 20% of Israel’s citizens are “Palestinian” with full rights of citizenship. Israel shares our American values of governance and liberty, and no other country in the region does. (And oh, by the way, the next time someone decries the Judeo-Christian tradition, you may want to remind them of the Old Testament.)
- Israel is a tremendous military ally to the USA. While some Nick Fuentes acolytes complain that they did not send troops to Iraq (as if that were even remotely possible given geopolitical conditions in the 21st century), Israel is a staunch ally when it comes to sharing military intelligence and technology. The only country that rivals the USA in terms of military tech is Israel, and we and they share military technology to each other’s mutual advantage. The only intelligence service that rivals the CIA and the U.K.’s MI6 is Mossad, and the intelligence we share with each other is greatly beneficial to both nations.
- Israel is a nation built on a slender strip of arid sand and dirt, with extremely limited natural resources. Since its inception in its modern form, Israel has been surrounded by Muslim states with a singular purpose of destroying Israel and all of its Jewish inhabitants. Yet, despite these limitations, the citizens of Israel made the desert bloom and built an economic and military powerhouse out of nothing. We Americans who understand our own pioneering history can see the similarity to our own nation and cannot help but admire it.
- I am a Silicon Valley corporate lawyer now. I do mergers and acquisitions and equity financings for technology companies. I have been on the other side of many deals involving Israeli companies, and I promise you that Israel has a technology industry that is second only to the USA’s Silicon Valley, and when it comes to cybersecurity, arguably better than Silicon Valley. The U.S. and world economies depend greatly on the innovation and products of the Israeli people. Right now, even if you are a wildly antisemitic Daryl Cooper fan reading this, the only reason you can do so safely without divulging your bank account and other deeply personal information is thanks to Israel.
- Israelis love Americans and America. What other country has a neighborhood called “Trump Heights?”
- “Gaza genocide” is a nonsense myth. Hamas has as its officially stated purpose the destruction of Israel and the murder of all its Jewish citizens. October 7 was one of the worst atrocities in modern history. In the face of a recalcitrant, murderous enemy singularly committed to the destruction of the USA and all its American citizens, how would we respond? Be honest. Israel had repeatedly—for decades—offered peace and compromises, and Hamas and Gaza’s citizens rejected all of that in favor of death and destruction. Israel’s response in Gaza was EXACTLY what the USA would have done when faced with a similar situation.
- If you are a proponent of the USA or Western Civilization more broadly, jihad is coming for you and me. There are literally millions of people on this planet who would gladly see you, me, and our nation destroyed if it meant we would all submit to Islam. Israel sits on the front lines of that fight every single day and has done so since 1948. It is not an exaggeration to state that, to a certain extent, Israel has fought jihad so you and I do not have to.
So what does all of this mean?
It means Israel is a nation wholly and completely compatible with the founding liberty and governance principles of the USA.
It means that the pioneers of Israel had the same moral fiber and fortitude as the American settlers.
It means that when we talk about defending “Western Civilization,” part of that is defending Israel.
It means no other foreign nation loves the USA as much as Israel.
It means Israel is an economic and technological powerhouse that the world economy depends upon.
It means that Israel is on the front line of the battle against jihad, more so than any other nation.
It means that the oil upon which Europe depends is only there thanks to Israel’s defense against jihad (because absent Israel’s regional influence, 8th-century savages would rule the oil and cut it off).
It means that the Israeli Defense Forces and Mossad are reliable, powerful partners of the US military and intelligence communities, and the only reason we can do things like destroy Iran’s quest for a Twelfth Imam ruling over a nuclear wasteland is thanks to Israel.
Most of all, it means that to be “America First,” one must necessarily support Israel, because Israel’s continued existence in the face of forces that seek its absolute destruction benefits America in every way imaginable.
Because I am a fierce advocate of “America First,” I support Israel, and I believe no thinking person can honestly say they are “America First” unless they also support all of the benefits Israel provides America.
Israel, of course, frequently acts in its own self-interest, as do all nations at all times in history. That self-interest sometimes clashes with the best interests of the USA. I do not deny this reality, and this sentiment is a frequent rebuttal to the points I make above. However, the key to any alliance is that each ally’s self-interest includes a high degree of mutual self-interest, and such is the case with the United States of America and Israel.
So, do you want to criticize Israel? Fine, there is plenty to criticize. But please don’t pretend that support for Israel is anti-American, because support for Israel is abundantly “America First.”
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Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a retired U.S. Army colonel and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who became a practicing corporate law attorney after military retirement. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.
Source: https://amgreatness.com/2025/11/07/america-first-and-israel/
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