Is Israel America's Closest Ally?

According to Michael Oren: Israel Is Now America's Closest Ally. Part of his evidence:

Israel is the only Middle Eastern country where the American flag is rarely (if ever) burned in protest – indeed, some Israelis fly that flag on their own independence day. And avenues in major American cities are named for Yitzhak Rabin and Golda Meir. Arguably, there is no alliance in the world today more durable and multifaceted than that between the United States and Israel.

I don't know.

Could it be that the reason some Israelis fly the American flag is because they are American Jews who made Aliyah? Could it be that the American cities with streets named after Israeli leaders have large Jewish populations?

Of course there are areas where the US and Israel share common interests and concerns:

American engineers, meanwhile, are collaborating with their Israeli counterparts in developing advanced defense systems. American soldiers are learning antiterrorist techniques from the Israeli army.

But let's not kid ourselves: we are talking about common national interests, not friendship. If Israel is America's closest ally, it is because of the terrorist threat and the US involvement in Iraq.

Michael Oren concludes that the US and Israel share--

one of history's most resilient, ardent and atypical partnerships.

That's right. It's all just business; nothing personal.

Technorati Tag: Israel.