The U.S. Should Maintain its Alliance with Israel

Alrighty then. Allow me to lay out my case for the affirmative.C1) Similar InterestsThe U.S. and Israel have morals, rights, and values that reflect each other. What is unique about Israel is that it holds values that are humane when compared with its neighboring countries. Israel has many of the same freedoms that are given in the U.S. Constitution, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of assembly[1]. It can be described as a "monument of democracy and stability in a region where’s there’s been little of either"[2]. Since the U.S. holds these values, rights, and morals as important, it has a reason to strengthen other countries such as Israel in order to promote them and keep them existent and alive in a world where rights are often abused. If we were to cut our support, Israel would be weakened and thus more likely to be overrun by surrounding Arab states that do not share these basic human rights.Saudi Arabia is regarded as one of the countries with the lowest political rights and civil liberties[3]. It along with Israel's neighbors, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine are all regarded as "not free" with limited rights in each. Saudi Arabia has serious problems with human trafficking, discrimination against women, lack of freedom of religion or speech, and executions of homosexuals[4]. Many of these things can be said for surrounding Arab theocratic states with severe problems. That being said, the strengthening and promotion of these interests are critical in the Middle East, and ought to be acknowledged by the U.S. through an alliance. Political influence has worked before, and can work with Israel and its neighboring countries too.C2) PeaceOne of the major goals of surrounding Arab countries is to destroy Israel. They have refused to negotiate on treaties and have allowed groups such as Hamas's organization to repeatedly launch rockets into Israel. The IDF has reacted with counter attacks as a means of self-defense, in order to keep Hamas's group away from their country.Israel has had a history of attempts to establish peace with help from the U.S. Their Declaration of Independence reads:"We appeal in the very midst of the onslaught launched against us now for months to the Arab inhabitants of the state of Israel, to preserve peace and participate in the upbuilding of the state on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. We extend our hand to all neighboring states and their peoples in an offer of peace and good neighborliness, and appeal to them to establish bonds of cooperation and mutual help with the sovereign Jewish people settled in its own land. The State of Israel is prepared to do its share in a common effort for the advancement of the entire Middle East."[5]In the past, there have been many attempts to establish peace from Israel, including Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty in 1979[6] and the Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty in 1994[7]. The U.S. has historically encouraged these treaties and has made sure that both sides agree to them. However, these instances of peace often exist for short periods of time before violence erupts again. Since peace in the area is something that would be beneficial to everyone, Israel needs America's help through alliance to further work towards establishing peace with the help of Israel. They need the U.S.'s support to be that layer of stability in which a violent society is discouraged and peace is the top priority, as the U.S. has made in the past.[1] http://www.state.gov...[2] http://nypost.com...[3] https://freedomhouse.org...[4] http://en.wikipedia.org...[5] http://www.aish.com...[6] http://en.wikipedia.org...[7] http://en.wikipedia.org...