Nov 29, 2025
Is Israel a Liability?
Michael Doran, Prager University
A growing chorus of voices from the American left and right now calls Israel a liability.
They say it’s time to walk away. They call this foreign policy realism.
In fact, it’s the opposite.
Israel remains America’s indispensable ally.
Here are five reasons why.
1. The Neighborhood
In geopolitics, as in real estate, three considerations are paramount: location, location, location.
The Middle East holds 48% of the world’s oil reserves and produces nearly a third of its supply.
Some claim renewables are making oil irrelevant — not in our lifetimes.
Oil fuels industries, oil fuels militaries, and oil is priced globally.
Shocks in the Middle East hit the U.S. economy directly.
Others argue that America’s own energy boom makes the region irrelevant.
That view is shortsighted. What happens in the Middle East doesn’t stay there.
It moves markets, shakes alliances, and draws in hostile powers.
He who controls the Middle East controls the crossroads of the global economy.
Israel is America’s fortress at that crossroads.
2. Containing Iran
Critics claim that Israel entangles America with Iran.
This is a profound misunderstanding.
Since its birth in 1979, the Islamic Republic has branded America the Great Satan and Israel the Little Satan.
Everything Iran does, it does in that order of priority.
To get to the U.S., Iran must deal with Israel first.
That’s why, in the interest of our own security, we must ensure that Israel has what it needs militarily.
Israel is our front line of defense.
If that bulwark is compromised, Iran will move on to its main targets — dominating the energy resources of the Gulf and challenging America.
Iran already has missiles capable of reaching Europe.
Shipping those missiles to its ally Venezuela would put them within range of the U.S. — like Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962.
An intolerable threat.
Nuclear weapons in the hands of a terrorist state are not only a threat to Israel — they’re a threat to us.
3. Projecting Force
Israel might be small — about the size of New Jersey — but it’s lethal, and it fights.
We can’t say that about many of our allies.
Many talk a good game but few are willing to act.
Israel is different. It spends at least 5% of its GDP on defense.
The U.S. spends 3.4%. Many NATO allies struggle to reach 2%.
Canada spends only 1.3%.
Israel’s Air Force flies more combat missions annually than all of NATO’s Western European members combined.
From generals to conscripts, Israel’s soldiers are combat-tested — and they don’t ask others to do their fighting for them.
“Give us the tools, and we’ll finish the job,” said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
As the world has seen, that’s not an idle boast.
In a crisis, we want that kind of ally on our side.
4. Intelligence Gathering
Israel’s intelligence service, the Mossad, is unmatched in daring and results.
In 2018, it raided Iran’s nuclear archive in Tehran.
In 2024, it launched Operation Grim Beeper, detonating explosives and crippling thousands of terrorists.
These operations revealed deep penetration of both Iran and its proxies.
The U.S. excels at gathering and processing intelligence data — and so does Israel.
But when it comes to human intelligence — gathering information from people with personal access — Israel has no peer.
When the U.S. needs eyes on the ground, ears in the room, or insight into the minds of adversaries, it often turns to Israel.
To say that without Israel the U.S. would be blind in the Middle East might be an exaggeration — but not by much.
5. Geopolitical Consequences
If the U.S. were to abandon Israel, it would trigger a cascade of disasters.
First, it would signal to every American ally that U.S. commitments are worthless.
Second, it would create a power vacuum in the Middle East that China, Russia, and Iran — all seeking to bring America down — would eagerly fill.
Third, it would force Israel to seek new partners, likely including China.
This isn’t hypothetical. Beijing is already courting Gulf allies of the U.S., investing in high-tech firms and infrastructure, and testing the limits of cooperation with America.
Israel is also on Beijing’s shopping list.
Push Israel away, and China will welcome it.
A Chinese–Israeli technological partnership would be a nightmare for America — combining Israeli innovation with Chinese scale.
America’s alliance with Israel is not sentimental — it’s strategic.
While Israel benefits from American support, America benefits from Israel’s considerable capabilities.
In the Middle East, no ally is stronger, more dependable, or more aligned with American interests than Israel.
When America’s critics call Israel a liability, they’re not practicing realism — they’re advocating retreat.
In the face of a rising China and an Iran on the brink of going nuclear, retreat isn’t realistic.
It’s reckless.
And consider this: do we really want to contemplate abandoning a fellow democracy — a nation that shares our values and is the source of our own heritage?
What kind of America would we be if we did that?
— Michael Doran, Senior Fellow and Director of the Middle East Center at the Hudson Institute, for Prager University.
