Israel stands apart as America’s most vital ally in a dangerous world

Which country is America’s most important ally?

It is definitely Israel. Israel is the only other true democracy on the planet, a nuclear superpower with the will and ability to project hard power over vast distances, providing the United States with a reliable ally in the world’s most turbulent region since the end of World War II.

Of course, Israel is not our only ally in the free world, or even our only ally in that region. Former Secretary of Defense General James Mattis, to take one obvious example, has routinely referred to the United Arab Emirates as “little Sparta” for two decades, and the general is right to note the UAE’s trusted friendship and commitment to our common interests.

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In the Pacific, we rely on Australia, India, Japan, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea to help the United States preserve its freedom of the seas and form a countervailing force against the hegemonic ambitions of General Xi and the People’s Liberation Army and Navy. Even communist Vietnam is moving towards “ally” status.

Our former allies remain, at least in theory, our partners in preserving freedom around the world, but when it comes to joining the United States in projecting power anywhere outside Europe, they are increasingly constrained by their increasingly anti-Israeli and generally left-leaning populations.

When the time came to eliminate Iran’s looming nuclear threat, did you see British or French fighter jets alongside our B-2s, fighter jets and Israeli Air Force? Of course not, and not just because of the political pressures created by new waves of immigrants from the devastated countries of Libya and Syria and the poverty-stricken countries of Africa.

Europe is changing before our eyes, and we should be happy that it can still muster the will to join Ukraine on a “hot” front in the second Cold War. Both France and the United Kingdom will point to their own efforts, as well as ours, to help Israel defend itself against Iranian missile attacks in 2024, but both countries were missing in Israel and the United States’ 12-day war against Iran in June this year. All of Europe benefited from the neutralization of the mullahs, but when Iran’s nuclear capabilities were destroyed, the mullahs were not there even as Iran’s ballistic missiles rained down on the Jewish state. While the United States and its Gulf allies imposed a ceasefire on Hamas, both engaged in a “two-state theatre”; This ceasefire included the return of the last 20 surviving hostages from the Gaza tunnels.

We should hope that India moves closer to the United States and that Japan and Australia join South Korea in increasing defense spending. (South Korea spends 2.8% of its GDP on defense, while the other two countries have this ratio below 2%.)

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We don’t need to “hope” for anything when it comes to Israel. During these war years, Israel spent 8.8 percent of its GDP on the Israel Defense Forces, and even in the most peaceful years this rate approached 4 percent to 5 percent. Israel’s high-tech defense sector also powers many of the innovations the free world needs to stay free. Even its critics recognize Israel as an “intelligence superpower” and its democracy as genuine as that of any Western country.

When it comes to evaluating America’s allies, Israel is “first among equals.”

Hugh Hewitt is the host of “The Hugh Hewitt Show,” heard weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. ET on the Salem Radio Network and simulcast on the Salem News Channel. Hugh is waking America on over 400 affiliates nationwide and on all streaming platforms where SNC can be seen. He is a frequent guest on the Fox News Channel news roundtable hosted by Bret Baier weekdays at 6pm ET. An Ohio native and graduate of Harvard College and the University of Michigan Law School, Hewitt has served as Professor of Law at Chapman University Fowler School of Law since 1996, where he teaches Constitutional Law. Hewitt launched his self-titled radio show in Los Angeles in 1990. Hewitt appeared frequently on all major national news television networks, hosted television programs for PBS and MSNBC, wrote for all major American newspapers, authored a dozen books, and moderated numerous Republican candidate debates; the most recent Republican presidential debate in Miami in November 2023 and four Republican presidential debates in 2015-16. Hewitt focuses his radio show and column on the Constitution, national security, American politics, and the Cleveland Browns and Guards. During his 40 years in broadcasting, Hewitt has interviewed tens of thousands of guests, from Democrats Hillary Clinton and John Kerry to Republican Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, and this column previews the main story that will drive today’s radio/TV show.

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