Or exfiltrating enriched nuclear material from NUMEC in the US to get their weapons program underway (Apollo affair) in 1976, or violating the nuclear test treaty off the coast of South Africa (Vela incident) in 1979, or blackmailing Clinton in 1998 (Jonathan Pollard incident). Or any number of other things. And these are just the things we know about.
But we know why they are special and get away with things that any other country would be in serious shit for. AIPAC does not fuck around. They play to win. And the evangelicals support it because of their belief about the second coming of christ.
Fine, not wrong, but you missed the rather heavy factor of the western powers feeling they owe a huge debt to the Jewish people for turning their boats back during the Holocaust. It's a "no one helps you til you help yourself" scenario, now that a state exists with a mission to give Jews safe refuge and self governance, they have (some of) the world's sympathy.
its not merely because of a few lobbyists and evangelicals' wacky eschatology
>They knowingly attacked and destroyed USS Liberty in 1967
Both sides agree it was an accident.
>Israel apologized for the attack, saying that USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.[5] Both the Israeli and United States governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship's identity.[6]
And if you scratch the surface, you will quickly realise that their apology is bullshit.
Israel wanted the US involved and conducted a false flag operation:
“Some intelligence and military officials dispute Israel's explanation.[79] Dean Rusk, U.S. Secretary of State at the time of the incident, wrote:
I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink Liberty precluded an assault by accident or some trigger-happy local commander. Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn't believe them then, and I don't believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.[80]”
What's so special? A good chunk of the US population believes the Israelis were literally chosen by God over 2000 years ago to occupy that piece of land, and they're obligated to do whatever they can to help them.
> A good chunk of the US population believes the Israelis were literally chosen by God
There is more to it, not only that but they believe that the Jewish state of Israel is needed for Jesus to return to earth.
This belief comes from Thessalonians 2:1-4
"1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed. 4 He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God."
So the "temple" is required for the anti-Christ to arise, and for Jesus to return.
Now as to if that actually means the physical Third Temple of Solomon... this is up for theological debate. Some Church Fathers held that the anti-Christ would indeed arise from a physical Third Temple. While other Church Fathers held that the 3rd Temple in Christianity was technically the Church, and so the anti-Christ would arise from her.
Either way, if you side with the first view there is no qualification for a state to be present in order to rebuild the physical Third Temple.
Protestant Evangelicals in America by and large take the first stance I mentioned, and are pretty stalwart in their belief the State of Israel is the vehicle through which this will be achieved.
The same chunk of population "should" (??) think that the Israeli ancestors killed Jesus, and that the Jews will go to hell if they don't accept Jesus as their savior - so - people are weird.
I also wonder about this, my personal conclusion is israelis work very hard to create a dirt on politicians over the years, and politicians just afraid of losing everything in one day vs joining the club of other blackmailed, powerful politicians. cases: Epstein, Monica Lewinsky, AIPAC, and probably many more
US's legitimization of it's leading role in the world is based on the story how they saved the world from the nazis. This story escalated ideologically, so now any critique of Israel is indirectly questioning USA as the world leader.
rozap|9 months ago
But we know why they are special and get away with things that any other country would be in serious shit for. AIPAC does not fuck around. They play to win. And the evangelicals support it because of their belief about the second coming of christ.
jazzyjackson|9 months ago
its not merely because of a few lobbyists and evangelicals' wacky eschatology
gruez|9 months ago
Both sides agree it was an accident.
>Israel apologized for the attack, saying that USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.[5] Both the Israeli and United States governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship's identity.[6]
Gud|9 months ago
Israel wanted the US involved and conducted a false flag operation:
“Some intelligence and military officials dispute Israel's explanation.[79] Dean Rusk, U.S. Secretary of State at the time of the incident, wrote: I was never satisfied with the Israeli explanation. Their sustained attack to disable and sink Liberty precluded an assault by accident or some trigger-happy local commander. Through diplomatic channels we refused to accept their explanations. I didn't believe them then, and I don't believe them to this day. The attack was outrageous.[80]”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
arresin|9 months ago
wkat4242|9 months ago
logicchains|9 months ago
swat535|9 months ago
There is more to it, not only that but they believe that the Jewish state of Israel is needed for Jesus to return to earth.
This belief comes from Thessalonians 2:1-4
"1 Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to Him, we ask you, brothers, 2 not to be easily disconcerted or alarmed by any spirit or message or letter seeming to be from us, alleging that the Day of the Lord has already come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed. 4 He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God."
So the "temple" is required for the anti-Christ to arise, and for Jesus to return.
Now as to if that actually means the physical Third Temple of Solomon... this is up for theological debate. Some Church Fathers held that the anti-Christ would indeed arise from a physical Third Temple. While other Church Fathers held that the 3rd Temple in Christianity was technically the Church, and so the anti-Christ would arise from her.
Either way, if you side with the first view there is no qualification for a state to be present in order to rebuild the physical Third Temple.
Protestant Evangelicals in America by and large take the first stance I mentioned, and are pretty stalwart in their belief the State of Israel is the vehicle through which this will be achieved.
late2part|9 months ago
clown_strike|9 months ago
> Sometimes I wonder what's so special about Israel that they keep getting away with everything.
A doctrine of full spectrum dominance, lack of ethical constraints and aggressive propagandizing would make anyone unstoppable.
markus_zhang|9 months ago
graemep|9 months ago
tuyguntn|9 months ago
mola|9 months ago
[deleted]
throawayonthe|9 months ago
[deleted]
jona-f|9 months ago
graemep|9 months ago
The legitimisation lies in the alternatives having been (historically) the Soviet Union, and (now) China.