How Important is Israel to the U.S.? Check the Map
by David Lev
For those who think that Israel is a $3 billion-a-year strategic liability for the U.S., the cause of Muslim terrorism, Mideast instability, and high gas prices, New York attorney and Israel advocate Mark Langfan has a message: Get a map.
Preferably, the 3D topographic raised-relief map system of Israel that Langfan developed back in 1991, which gives viewers a perspective on Israel – and on the Middle East – that they may not have had before. The map shows just how important Israel is to U.S. interests – how a strong and secure Israel, far from being a strategic liability, is actually the one thing that is preventing the Middle East from falling into complete chaos.
With an Israeli presence in the high ground of Judea and Samaria and on the Golan Heights, “Israel is immune to an existential attack” by ground troops from Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon. In a video, Langfan lays out the case for Israel's retention of these areas; with them, Israel can defend itself and ensure a semblance of order in the region, Without them, Iran and its radical Islamist allies would have a free hand, picking through the debris of the “regimes' ancien” of the Middle East, and eventually taking over the greatest prize of all – oil-rich Saudi Arabia, thus controlling the fate of the entire Western world.
In the video, Langfan revives the idea of the “domino theory,” which was a cause for great debate in the U.S. during the Vietnam War era. But there's no debate over what a Middle East domino spill would look like; a weak Israel without its strategic land assets would be open for attack by a revitalized Islamist front, led by Egypt, Hizbullah, Hamas, and Syria (with the likelihood that Bashar al-Assad will eventually be replaced by an Islamist government, as happened in Egypt).
If Israel is destroyed – or even if it is allowed to survive (temporarily) in a cowed, defensive state, the Islamist front, led by Iran, would continue with its agenda to take over the Middle East. First to go would be Jordan, which Syria has coveted for decades, and which Islamists despise because of King Abdullah's ties with the West. By that time, Iraq would also have been absorbed into the super “Shiastan” state expanding from Iran – and there would be nothing to stop Iran and the Islamists from walking into Saudi Arabia and taking over. The Islamists would be in full control of all waterways that Western navies could use to send ships and troops to the region, including the Persian Gulf and the Suez Canal. And at that point, Langfan says in the video, the U.S. and Europe would be truly be the vassals, or “dhimmis,” of the Islamists.
Even if the U.S. could find the wherewithal to defend its Middle East interests under such conditions, it would cost far more than the $3 billion Israel gets each year- not to mention the costs in blood and treasure from a protracted war in which U.S. troops, without a friendly base to work from, are forced to fight in difficult desert conditions. That is, of course, even if the American people could be rallied to take on such a fight – unlikely after their experience in Afghanistan and Iraq.
All this can be avoided, however, if the U.S. supports Israel's presence in Judea and Samaria and in the Golan. The video also mentions the importance of Gaza, which Israel has since abandoned – resulting of tens of thousands of missiles being fired at southern Israel by Hamas, and inspiring Hizbullah to attack Israel with tens of thousands of its own missiles from the north. If that is the result of abandoning the small territory of Gaza – which does not even have strategic defensive height and is surrounded by sparsely populated desert areas – what would be the result of Israel's abandonment of the much more important territories in Judea, Samaria, and the Golan?
Langfan hopes we never have to find out. “Israel is the cause of U.S. stability,” he says. “Israel is the tip of the West's spear against a Muslim tsunami.”
If you don't believe him, just check the map.
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