As we witness widespread critique of Israel for its genocide of the Palestinians, increasing brutality in the West Bank, and now the Israeli and U.S. war on Iran, we must ask why the U.S. remains such a loyal ally of Israel. Indeed, we must understand that underlying this alliance is the balance of power among the world’s major imperialist nations. As has been the case since the world’s territory – and its resources and labor – was colonized and divided from the late 1900s, the most successful method of power expansion has been and remains wars of redivision. During World War I, the conflict was between European nations to redivide their colonies and during World War II, to control the growth of Germany and, for the U.S. and Europe, to contain communism in the Soviet Union. At present, the main conflict is between the U.S. and its European partners, versus China, likely allied with Russia and perhaps India and other nations.
Underlying this dynamic today is the fact that fossil fuels still account for 80% of the world’s energy use and 79% of the world’s supply is in the Middle East. The U.S. ruling class is dependent on Israel, its sole remaining militarily powerful and politically loyal ally in the region, in order to maintain its hold on this entire region, its resources, and trade routes. The fact that the war of redivision has resulted in a genocide, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been murdered, is of no import to the rulers of any of the competing imperialists, whose rulers see their own survival at stake. The ferocious racism directed at Palestinians by Israel and its allies is designed to justify murder and displacement and cannot simply be overcome by moral outrage. Therefore, as public health advocates we must focus on the dynamics of capitalism – and the war, racism, and genocide it engenders – if we are dedicated to saving lives.
A Brief Historical Grounding
Although founded in the late 1800s, Zionism only gained the support of Western Imperialism in the early 20th century because oil had become the main fuel of industry and military machinery, and these resources were concentrated in the Middle East. Britain, then the West’s major imperialist, also wanted to assure that the Suez Canal and Egypt remained under its influence. Thus, Britain promised to sponsor a Jewish homeland in Palestine, knowing that the Zionists’ European background would make them a regional ally, and the Balfour Declaration of 1917 was signed. Following their WWI victory, Britain and France divided the former Ottoman Empire into six new countries – Palestine, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Kuwait – and Zionist immigration to and subsequent colonization of Palestine accelerated.
As of 1895, there were approximately 400,000 people living in Palestine, and the Zionist objective was to expel them all. This sentiment was expressed by Israel’s first Prime Minister, Ben Gurion – “I am for compulsory transfer; I do not see anything immoral in it” – and has continued to be central to Israel’s occupation since. The Finance Minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said in March 2023 that Palestinians don’t exist and called for more “sterile” – Palestinian free – zones in the West Bank. On October 13, 2023, +972 Magazine published an Israeli intelligence document that concludes: “The evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza to Sinai…will yield positive, long-term strategic outcomes for Israel, and is an executable option. It requires determination from the political echelon in the face of international pressure, with an emphasis on harnessing the support of the United States.”
To back up, Jewish immigration to Palestine vastly accelerated as Nazism grew in Europe, and, after WWII, the United Nations established the state of Israel. The Jews were given 55% of the land, including the best water supplies, although they owned only 6% at the time and comprised about 30% of the population. Needless to say, the Palestinian population was outraged by this forcible distribution of Palestinian land and resources, as were the Zionists, who wanted it all for themselves.
The Zionist blueprint for the ouster of Palestinians, which had been in development since 1940, was put into effect in 1948. Armed Zionist forces killed hundreds of Palestinians, as in the mass murder of ‘93 in the village of Deir Yassin, where over 750,000 Palestinians fled in terror, and about 500 villages were destroyed. The Palestinian refugees ended up in what are now the Israeli occupied Palestinian territories (oPt) of Gaza, the West Bank and the Golan Heights, nearby countries, or farther afield. Any who tried to return to their homes were killed. This ethnic cleansing is known as the Nakba, or “catastrophe’ in Arabic, and Israeli propaganda still leads many to believe that Palestinians left voluntarily because they hated Jews, as opposed to their forced expulsion by Zionist forces.
In 1967, Israel launched a victorious war, with U.S. support, to defeat the pan-Arab movement being built by Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. Egypt was driven out of Gaza, Jordan out of the West Bank and Jerusalem, and Syria out of the Golan Heights, and the the longest military occupation in modern history began. By 1969, the last British troops had left the Middle East, and the U.S. became the greatest supporter of Israel with a policy called Qualitative Military Edge, designed to guarantee Israel’s permanent military and technological superiority in the region. As of 1980, U.S. aid to Israel had become greater than that to the rest of the world combined. As President Nixon’s Secretary of State Alexander Haig said: “Israel is the largest American aircraft carrier in the world that cannot be sunk, does not carry even one American soldier, and is located in a critical region for American national security.” Or, as Biden said more recently, “If Israel didn’t exist, we would have to invent it.”
After WWII, when the U.S. had become the leading Western imperialist, Israel was part of its triple base of support in the Middle East, which included Saudi Arabia and Iran. With the fall of the U.S.-installed Shah of Iran in 1979, the U.S. lost one critical ally in the region. Saudi Arabia has recently been waffling in its loyalties between the West and China. They now sell oil to China, receive weapons and technical aid in return, and signed a pact with Iran in 2023. As of yet, Saudi Arabia has refused to sign the U.S. sponsored Abraham Accords with Israel and have said they do not want their military infrastructure or air space used by the U.S. Only Israel remains as a politically reliable and militarily strong U.S. ally in the Middle East.
Can the U.S. Divorce Israel?
The short answer is no. If the U.S. withdrew weapons, Israel would be weakened, defeated or possibly even dismantled. However, the U.S. needs Israel to survive as its economic, military, and nuclear partner, thus it must still enable Israeli policy despite the genocide infuriating and mobilizing millions in the U.S. and worldwide.
I reiterate that fossil fuels still account for four-fifths of the world’s energy use and remain the crucial fuel for the militaries and industries of all capitalist economies, and 79% of this resource is in the Middle East. After the U.S., five of the six biggest oil producers in the world are Saudi Arabia, Iraq, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Oman. There are thought to be huge undeveloped oil reserves in Yemen and the West Bank, and there are known to be large gas fields in the sea west of Gaza.
Trade routes in the area are also of critical importance. Twenty percent of the world’s petroleum passes through the Persian Gulf. Thirty percent of all container ships, 40% of all Asia to Europe trade and 15% of all international trade passes through the Suez Canal. Just the Houthi attacks on shipping at the southern end of the Red Sea caused a 50% decrease in the volume of trade through the Suez Canal in the first two months of 2024, and a 74% increase in shipping around the Horn of Africa, at a great cost. As of mid-2024, $200 billion worth of goods had to be diverted away from the Canal.
Since the 1980s, the U.S. has constructed deals offering various carrots with neighboring Arab states so as to mitigate their enmity and actions against Israel. Egypt and Jordan were labeled Qualifying Industrial Zones, receiving duty free access to the U.S., as long as their exports were partially produced in Israel. Free Trade pacts were signed with Bahrain, Morocco, Jordan, and Oman, which forbade them from boycotting Israel. Most recently and perhaps most importantly are the Abraham Accords of 2021, which demanded normalization of relations with Israel in exchange for losing the designation of terrorist state or receiving other trade benefits with the U.S. So far, the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco have signed. Saudi Arabia was to be the biggest prize, but has so far refused to sign on.
Other Functions of Israel
This article contends that the overwhelming reason the U.S. maintains its firm alliance with Israel is to guarantee access and control of fossil fuel resources and shipping routes in the broader Middle East. Nonetheless, there are secondary gains. It has also been possible for the US to carry out unpopular foreign policies by conducting business in Israel. During apartheid in South Africa, the U.S. funneled its support to the white government through Israel. While supporting the rightwing Contras in Nicaragua, U.S. aid also went via Israel. Israel is also a developer, producer and exporter of military weapons and surveillance equipment such as drones and tear gas, especially those designed to quell protests and revolt. To this end, they have trained thousands of police around the world, including those from most U.S. cities.
Competition with China
At the moment, China has many and growing interests in the Middle East, which amplifies the U.S. interest in maintaining its own foothold there. By 2020, Chinese oil consumption had risen to 14% of the world’s oil, up from 6% in 2000. The Gulf states are now providing almost half of China’s imports, and 70% of Gulf oil is headed to Asia. In 2022, the five leading Western oil companies had a combined $200 billion in profits. However, Aramco of Saudi Arabia earned $161 billion, making it the largest profit ever recorded by a single company. Other companies in Abu Dhabi and Kuwait have also taken over much of the oil extraction and exporting in the Gulf. Oil refining, once a totally Western enterprise, is also increasingly shifting eastward, with only one third remaining in North America and Europe.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia is receiving technology and weapons from China. China is Saudi Arabia’s largest trading partner, and Saudi Arabia has received $10 billion in technological investments. Although Saudi Arabia still receives 78% of their weapons from the U.S., Chinese arms exports have increased fourfold over the past five years.
China is also massively extending its worldwide influence through the Belt and Road initiative to boost trade, diplomatic relations and exports. There are now cooperation agreements with over 150 countries, including Egypt, and 18 other countries in the Middle East and North Africa. Maritime trade routes connect China with Southeast and South Asia, the South Pacific, the Middle East and Eastern Africa, and Europe.
Whereas U.S. dollars once dominated international trade, the BRICS banking alliance of Brazil, Russia, India and China now includes six new countries – Argentina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – and a growing list of partner countries. Altogether, their economies account for 37.3% of world GDP.
What Happens Next?
Palestinians continue to suffer the genocide in Gaza, land seizures, and killing in the West Bank, with no seemingly end in sight. There is no possibility of two states as we consider a state to have the right and possibility to defend itself and Israel would never allow this. Zionists have also long feared the current situation in which Palestinians in the overall territory outnumber non-Palestinian Jews, which is seen as a threat to Jewish domination. Thus, in Gaza, the Israel campaign will continue to decimate the population, forcing the surviving Palestinians into further exile.
Overall, the main dynamic that will determine the world’s fate over the next decade is the competition between the two main imperialist rival camps, China and its Russian ally and growing influence versus the U.S. with its NATO allies. The recent war Israel waged against Iran is important to the U.S., not just to support its Israeli ally, but to cement its own dominance in the region. It is impossible to predict just when or how, by accident of design, the U.S.-China rivalry will erupt into wider conflict. But we can be sure that it will happen at some time, as has been the pattern of inter-imperialist rivalry for the last century. Perhaps wider war will grow from fighting over Taiwan or the South China Sea or some other quarter. And when this war occurs, there is a good chance that it will ultimately be nuclear, with few nations holding back their strongest weapon if desperate.
If we health workers recognize these inter-imperialist dynamics – a global power game at the expense of millions of people’s lives – then as we study disease, contagion, health delivery systems, and healthy lifestyles, we must acknowledge that all of our triumphs or failures pale before the costs of war. The inter-imperialist wars since WWI have cost about 200 million lives, and the UN estimates that 90% of war-time casualties are civilians. Thus, public health must interrogate how capitalism incentivizes violence and commit to dismantling this system, rather than simply studying and responding to the negative health outcomes suffered by individuals of communities, produced by empires’ capitalist interests.
How Should We Direct Our Struggles?
The question now becomes, what can we do? I would argue that our duty, in whatever issues we engage, is to expose the nature of capitalism and imperialism in the U.S. and worldwide and direct our struggles so as to weaken it. That does not mean relying on influencing or changing politicians, all of whom support capitalism in some form. We must not retain the illusion that any capitalist leader will prioritize the quality of our lives. As competition around the world intensifies, each capitalist nation will resort to ever-intensifying nationalism to win its population to support, even die for, the interests of its ruling elite.
In response, public health advocates must build ever-wider movements on campuses and in industries and communities that strike at the heart of capitalist power and indoctrination. We must explain that public health under capitalism depends primarily on the relations of citizens to rulers, rulers who wish to exploit our labor and use us to fight their wars, to keep us in working and fighting condition. Thus, we must organize our fellow students, workers, and soldiers to fight together against imperialist genocides and wars, against racism and nationalism, against cuts to our conditions of living, and against rising fascism. Although it does no harm, it is not adequate to simply march or make statements as health providers opposing mass murder or even applaud the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide, as these tactics do not actually threaten the power of the state. It is critical to prioritize tactics that actually weaken the strength of the capitalist ruling class, such as fighting police brutality, opposing deportations, striking to demand better wages and benefits, organizing soldiers to resist orders to fight fellow workers, building campus movements that unite students, faculty and campus workers, and forcing our professional organizations to oppose war and fascism – and we must unite these struggles together.
We have many ongoing and recent struggles to inspire us and a world that needs to be won.
Authored by Ellen Isaacs
Ellen Isaacs is a retired physician, a Marxist activist against racism and capitalism, and co-editor of multiracialunity.org.
